Always Here
by RdRvr94
Summary: A love story loosely based on the show JONAS. Watch as Joe, Stella, and their best friend Maddie deal with budding feelings, blossoming romance, and extreme love triangles. Joe/Stella Joe/Maddie. Also includes Nick, Kevin, and Frankie.
1. Be My Date

**Disclaimer: I own the following storylines, but not the characters or their personalities.**

**A/N: Heyyy everyone out there in cyber space! I'm actually not a huge die hard fan of JONAS, but after watching a few episodes, I got inspired to write this. This is my first story, so please don't be too harsh. Reviews are greatly appreciated! :D I would love to hear your opinions or any ideas you have for this story. Happy Reading! :) - RedRover94**

**JOE'S POV**

_Who is calling me at 7 A.M.?_

I rubbed my eyes and reached to grab my cell phone. With half-open eyes, I flipped open my cell.

"Hello," I said into the phone, dragging out every syllable.

"Joe…it's me," the quieter voice replied.

"Stella? You know I love you but what is it that was so important for you to wake me up at 7 A.M.?" I responded slightly irritated, rubbing my eyes.

"Joe…I'm coming over. It's an emergency!" she urgently replied, "I'll be there in twenty minutes."

DIAL TONE

_Who was she to hang up on me? I mean I'm Joe…the most handsome and coolest member of JONAS._

Now awake and puzzled, I got out of bed as quietly as I could. I only bumped my foot against Kevin's bed once. Kev was talking in his sleep once again.

"Will you marry me bear in a bikini?" he said full of glee.

Rolling my eyes, I walked over to the shower. I wasn't going to get back to sleep now anyways. I put on a pair of jet black skinny jeans, ruffled my shaggy dark hair with a towel, and grabbed a blue and white plaid shirt to put on.

"Joe! Stop making so much noise! I'm trying to sleep here!", Nick angrily whispered.

"Relax Nick J, I'm just getting dressed", I said explaining myself.

"Well could you get dressed downstairs? Please Joe!", he replied

"Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed!" I countered.

I huffed, grabbed the shirt, and went over to my pole. Sliding down, I glanced at my watch. Stella should be here any minute. As if right on time, I heard a knock. Struggling to do up the buttons on my shirt, the knock grew louder.

"Geez! Hang on Stells", I whispered, fumbling with my buttons.

The knocking grew even louder.

Uggh! I opened the door.

"What?" I said very annoyed.

"Is that the way to open a door…not even a hello…I mean gosh Joe…" Stella stopped mid-sentence.

I glanced down at her. She looked beautiful today in just a simple black skirt, white tee, and plaid scarf. Well, when has she ever not looked beautiful? I thought to myself.

"Stells…you okay?" I asked.

Then I saw what she was looking at and smirked.

"Sorry about that. I didn't know I had such an effect on you", I replied, buttoning up my shirt.

"Don't flatter yourself Lucas, it's just that I would rather not see my best friend half naked when I've just woken up", she said.

_Oh please. She loves it._

"So what's the big emergency Stella?" I asked.

She then pulled out two complete outfits from behind her back.

"I can't decide on which one you should wear to Winter Formal", she replied pensive.

"Stella, I decide what I wear", I replied.

She tilted her head, cocked her eyebrows, and fixed me with an 'Oh really?' look.

"Well whatever, I'm not going to Winter Formal anyways", I responded walking towards the kitchen.

She scurried after me.

"What do you mean you're not going?" she asked slightly worried it seemed.

"I mean, I'm not going. It'll just be a night with tons of crazy fangirls. I won't even get to stay the whole night without being taken home early", I replied.

"Well what if I promise to keep you away from as many fangirls as possible. You could be my date and I would try and make it like a regular night so Big Rob wouldn't have to drag you home", she replied.

"Be your date?" I said with a smirk.

"Please Joe. I mean it wouldn't be like a real date or anything. I'm just trying to make VanDyke jealous", she said.

_Ouch. Well that hurt. She only wants to go out with me to make VanDyke jealous. What does VanDyke have that I don't?_

"Sure Stells, anything for you", I replied with a sarcastic smile.

**It's not too hard. Just hit the tiny button and leave me a review. Please and ThankYou! :)**


	2. The Winter Formal

**Disclaimer: I do not own the main characters in this story or their personalities. I only own the storylines and the secondary characters.**

**A/N: Heyy guys! I was really happy with the amount of visitors, story alerts, and favourite stories I got from Chapter 1. I would like some of my readers to leave a short review though. It makes me feel like I'm writing to noone when I don't have any reviews. Once again, this is the first story that I have published on the site and I would really love to get some feedback on it. This is why I am not going to update this story until I receive atleast 3 reviews, I don't think that's too much to ask. The quicker I get reviews, the quicker the story gets updated. **

**My inspiration for this chapter was the song Stolen by Dashboard Confessional. The lyrics from the song will look like *-this-* in the chapter. It's a great song, if you haven't heard it, go check it out! **

**Also, I want to make it clear that I have altered some of the storylines from the actual show to accomodate my vision for where I want this story to go. Hope you guys enjoy! -RedRover94**

**JOE'S POV**

"JOE!!!!!!"

_Uh oh…she doesn't sound happy._

"I'm coming", I yelled from upstairs.

TEN MINUTES LATER

"Well that took long enough", Stella said clearly annoyed.

"Well it takes time to look this good", I replied with a mock-serious face.

"Uh huh…whatever Joe".

_Wow. Stella really looked gorgeous. I mean she always does…but WOW! Her luscious blond hair and her strapless dark green dress left me open-mouthed in awe._

"What are you looking at?", she asked, "We need to get going".

"Nothing…okay ladies first", I responded gesturing her to move forward with my arm.

"Aren't you forgetting something Joe?"

"Uhm…nope", I said, "Weren't you the one who said that we need to go? So, let's go!"

"What about my corsage?"

"A corsage? I didn't think that would really be necessary"

"And why would you think that Joe?" she said.

" 'Cause you said that this wasn't a real date…we're just making VanDyke jealous…right?"

"Yes. Of course. And all the more reason that I need to have one", she said proving her point.

"All right, then we really need to head out now!" I said hastily.

"Later Joe. See you Stella", Nick said sliding down his pole.

"Later Nick", I replied.

Stella gave Nick a quick wave and we were off.

AT THE DANCE

**STELLA'S POV**

_Joe really looked handsome tonight. He was wearing a red shirt, black pants, and a skinny red tie. Okay Stella, get it together! Stop Staring! NOW!_

"Joe I can't believe you took me to a convenience store to get a corsage!"

I had to say something to break my reverie of staring. I wasn't really upset or angry about it. In reality, I just thought it was funny.

"That's where Dad said to go", he replied.

I guess I was looking at my corsage with an odd look because Joe then laughed, put his arm around me and said, "Oh come on Stells, a veggie corsage is very hip!"

"Well atleast we'll be unique", I replied trying to sound optimistic about wearing vegetables on my wrist.

"That's the spirit!", He replied with a huge smile.

After talking, laughing, and hanging around with Joe for a little while,_Stolen by Dashboard Confessional,_ started blaring on the speakers of the huge gymnasium.

I absolutely loved this song. I thought it was truly romantic.

***-We watch the season pull up its own stakes  
And catch the last weekend  
Of the last week  
Before the gold and the glimmer have been replaced  
Another sun soaked season fades away-***

**JOE'S POV**

_Okay this was my chance. Just suck it up and do it. Ask her Joe!_

"Hey Stella", I said a bit unsure.

***-You have stolen my heart-***

"Yeah Joe," she quickly replied.

"I was wondering if you wanted—"

"Look there's VanDyke! And OMG look at his pants! Aren't they cool?"

"Uhm yeah sure…I was just going to ask you if—"

***-You have stolen my heart-***

"I better go ask him to dance before someone else does", Stella said walking away.

_Wow! That went well! She's never gonna see me as more than a friend._

Just as I lost all hope, she turned around, looked me right in the eye and said, "Wait Joe…what were you saying?"

"Oh nothing…you better go Stell there are a few girls walking over there", I replied.

She quickly turned back and started fast walking toward VanDyke. I couldn't help but laugh at the sight of her racing over towards him. And just as she almost hit the jackpot, Ben Krinsky bumped in to her.

Catching her balance, she looked over his shoulder and saw that VanDyke was now taken. And just as she was about to turn and come back to me, Ben Krinsky asked her to dance. Now this was just too funny. Poor Stella.

Ben Krinsky was truly one of the biggest geeks at Horace Mantis. He was currently wearing beige slacks, a white t-shirt, and it looked like he hadn't washed his hair in weeks. Ughh. I just shuddered at the lack of fashion sense and cleanliness.

Stella, being the nicest person I know, accepted the offer and he led her to the middle of the gymnasium.

Ben was talking about something animatedly using pretty large hand gestures and Stella was nodding subconsciously and looking everywhere but him.

***-Invitation only  
Grand Farewells  
Crash the best one  
Of the best ones  
Clear liquor and cloudy eyed  
Too early to say goodnight-***

I had to rescue her. This was not the way to spend your winter formal.

I glided over to the pair with a small smirk.

"Hey Ben, do you mind if I cut in?"

"Uh....sure…I guess…uh huh", he was stuttering and probably trying to think of some way to get rid of me. I mean who wouldn't want to dance with one of the most beautiful girls in school.

"Thanks Ben", I said with a smile and cutting in.

Stella gave him a sad smile and put her arms around my neck with a bigger, happier smile.

_God, I loved her smile._

I smiled back and encircled her waist with my arms pulling her closer to me.

***-You have stolen my heart  
You have stolen my heart-***

"I think you owe me a thank you", I said seriously.

And there went her smile. It was now oddly reminiscent of a frown.

"Are you kidding Joe?"

"No. You clearly did not wanna dance with Ben Krinsky", I countered.

"I was doing perfectly fine without you", she argued.

"No, you clearly weren't"

***-And from the ball room floor  
We are in celebration  
One good stretch before our hibernation  
Our dreams assured and we all  
Will sleep well  
Sleep well  
Sleep well  
Sleep well-***

"I didn't need you to save me Joe. I was fine on my own", she replied.

"Stells, it's my job to save you", I said without thinking.

She looked at me wide-eyed.

"Uh….uh….what I mean is…", I stuttered trying to come up with a way to explain what I had just said.

_Stupid Joe. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid._

***-You have stolen  
You have stolen  
You have stolen my heart-***

Before I could say something else, Stella hugged me. She was clinging to me and her arms tightened their hold around my neck. I swear at one time she even ran her hand through the hair at the nape of my neck.

I realized I still hadn't moved from my position and I didn't want her to get the wrong idea. I quickly pulled her closer to me than before and I clasped my hands together around the small of her back. I was now holding her to me.

Suddenly, I felt her loosen her arms from my neck. She pulled back and looked right at me. Her eyes were filled with warmth and happiness and she was all smiles.

_Maybe she did like me as more than a friend._

***-I watch you spin around  
In your highest heels  
You are the best one  
Of the best ones  
We  
All  
Look  
Like  
We  
Feel-***

She was still staring intently into my eyes. I met her with the same intensity and I gave her the biggest smile I could muster up in that moment.

She giggled quietly and resumed her position with her arms around my neck and her head resting on my shoulder. I sighed and brought her in close once more.

***-You have stolen my  
You have stolen my  
You have stolen my heart-***

**A/N: Next chapter will be up when I get atleast 3 reviews! Any constructive feedback is appreciated.**


	3. Aftermath

**Disclaimer: I basically own nothing :P**

**A/N: Hey girlies! (Well, I'm assuming your all girls...) I hope you guys are enjoying my story :) OK so shoutouts to morgause, Rosie-Jess, and digigirl02 for being my first reviewers! I really appreciated your comments and I hope you guys will continue reviewing this story! So, this chap is shorter than the last (sorry!) I wanted to run this by my readers before I start planning anything: I'm thinking of making this story more mature and less PG-13...if you know what I mean ;) LOL...tell me if you guys think I should go ahead with that or not! Happy Reading :) -RedRover94**

**JOE'S POV**

"So what do you guys think?" I asked.

"I think you guys shared a really nice moment. But don't read too much into it Joe", Nick replied.

"Yeah, Nick's right", Kevin responded.

"And why not?", I asked, clearly annoyed.

Nick and Kev both looked at each other, and then back at me.

"VanDyke", they said at the same time.

_VanDyke? Stella couldn't still want to date VanDyke…right?_

"I guess you guys are right", I said, "I'll wait to ask her out until I'm sure she's over him"

AT SCHOOL

"Hey guys", Stella said skipping over to us cheerily.

"Hey Stell", I said.

"Well, I'm gonna be late for AP English", Nick said, "See you guys".

"Yeah, I gotta go too…I promised Macy I'd answer some questions for her JONAS fansite", Kev said walking away.

"So, what's up Stella?", I asked her getting my Chem book from my locker.

"Not much, I just wanted to tell you that I had a really nice time at the dance last night"

_Had a really nice time? Hmm maybe she is into me._

"Me too", I replied closing my locker.

I looked at her and smiled. She smiled back and…was that a blush?

_Yup, definitely into me._

"WHOOP!!! YEAHHH!!! NICE ONE MAN!!"

"What's going on over there?" Stella asked.

"I don't know…let's go see", I replied.

We walked towards the cheering and clapping, and made our way through the crowd of students. And, right in the middle of all the commotion, there was VanDyke kissing the new girl, Arianna.

_Seriously? All this fuss is over VanDyke?_

"..Excuse me...", Stella said shakily.

_Uh oh…I forgot about Stella._

**STELLA'S POV**

I quickly made my way through the crowd and over to my locker. I opened my locker and grabbed my Calc book hastily, when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see that the hand belonged to Joe.

"You okay?" he asked in a gentle, caring voice.

"Mhmm…I'm fine Joe", I responded.

"You can tell me you know. You're my best friend Stella", he said.

With that, I couldn't help but smile, "And you're mine too"

"It's just that I feel so stupid Joe. I mean what was I thinking? Why would VanDyke wanna go out with me over her? Just look at her; she has big, luscious lips, and gorgeous dark hair, and clearly is very…developed. She's beautiful…and sexy", I said looking Arianna up and down.

"So are you. And blondes are definitely hotter than brunettes. Well, with girls anyway", Joe replied, matter of fact.

I laughed quietly at the blonde comment. He always knew how to cheer a girl up.

_But, did he really think that I was beautiful…and sexy?! No way…he must be trying to make me feel better. Why did he have to be so sweet to me? I mean he's just so caring and adorable and…NO! he's just your friend Stella…he doesn't see you like that…stop thinking like that…and pull it together…NOW!_

"Um thanks Joe. But let's be honest…what kind of guy would want me over her?"

BELL RINGS

I gave Joe a sad smile, shut my locker, and walked to class.

**JOE'S POV**

"So are you", I replied.

_And it was true. She honestly was truly beautiful. And really sexy. Everything about her made me go crazy. _

"Um thanks Joe. But let's be honest…what kind of guy would want me over her?"

_Those words broke my heart. Did she honestly believe that guys would prefer that Ari-whatever girl over her?_

BELL RINGS

She looked at me with sad eyes and walked away.

"I would", I said…to an empty hallway.

I quickly ran off to class.

**A/N: Any constructive feedback is greatly appreciated!**


	4. Movie Night

**Disclaimer: I basically own nothing :/**

**A/N: Just want to say thankyou to the best readers on this site (in my opinion! :P) for reviewing/story-alerting/favourite-ing my story! This chapter is much longer than the last, so enjoy!! And, what I said about making this story mature...I still am planning to do that...but not right away. I'm letting their relationship develop. This is not gonna be a lemon or a smut fic of any kind. Their may be sexual situations later in the story. Just think Jonas Brothers minus purity rings. Really hope you guys enjoy this! :) - RedRover94**

**JOE'S POV**

"So when you gonna ask Stella out?", Nick asked.

"Actually, I was thinking of asking her to go to the movies with me tonight instead of movie night at home ritual?" I replied, hoping they'd be cool with us missing our usual Friday night activity.

"Sounds good Joe", Nick replied.

"Are you guys sure? I know that the four of us usually stay in and do movie night…", I said trailing off.

"It's totally cool", Kevin said.

"OK. Thanks guys", I replied.

**STELLA'S POV**

AT SCHOOL

I saw Joe walking up to me, and couldn't help but smile. _That boy truly knew how to make my day._

"Hey Joe…so we still on for our Friday night ritual?"

"Yeah…about that…um…I was wondering if you would wanna go see a movie at the theatre…with me…instead of staying in?"

_Aww…he was nervous. He's so adorable._

"Like a date?"

"Yeah…I mean we could go as friends…if you'd prefer that"

"No…a date sounds good"

He broke out into the hugest grin.

"Great, so I'll pick you up at 7"

"Okay, well I gotta get to class…so I'll see you then" I said, possibly with an even bigger smile.

"Bye Stells"

AT THE MOVIES

**JOE'S POV**

I was really happy to finally be going out with Stella. And, she seemed really into the whole idea too.

"Hey I'm going to go use the washroom", she said.

"Okay…I'll get the popcorn"

Five Minutes Later.

_Why is this popcorn line taking so long? Shouldn't I be bumped to the front? Should've got Big Rob to come with us._

**STELLA'S POV**

As I walked out of the washroom, I saw Joe still standing in the line. I laughed quietly, about to walk up to him, when out of the corner of my eye I saw VanDyke and Arianna making out.

_Seriously? We have to see this everyday at school…can't they just go and get a room already?_

"Can you stop staring at us please?", Arianna asked rudely.

"Excuse me?", I replied.

"Just cause you can't get a boyfriend, doesn't mean you have to stare at mine!"

"Hey babe", Joe said putting his hand around my waist and kissing my cheek, "Sorry I took so long…that line was just NOT moving"

I was completely shocked at this point by Arianna and Joe_. _

"Uh..huh.."

Joe started to rub my back gently, moving his hand in circles.

"You okay honey?" he asked.

I quickly grabbed his hand, intertwined it with mine, and replied "Mhmm, I'm fine"

He smiled.

"Sorry…what were you saying Arianna?" I asked, using the same tone she was using with me.

Unresponsive, she walked away, right up to VanDyke, grabbed his hand and entered the theatre.

"Joe…don't expect me to thank you…I mean you didn't have to do that", I said.

"I know that…I wanted to", he replied giving my hand a squeeze.

_He was honestly too cute._ I hugged him and murmured a "thank you" into his ear.

"Don't mention it", he said and then whispered "You know I'd do anything for you" into my ear.

I just hugged him tighter.

"As much as I'm loving this, maybe we should go into the theatre now…we don't want to miss the movie", he said.

"Yeah…let's go", I replied taking his hand, leading him towards the theatre.

**JOE'S POV**

"Wait…are you sure u still want to see this? It looks pretty scary", I said.

"Yes I'm sure…I'll be fine", Stella replied.

"Okay…I was talking about myself though", I said, staring at the 'Strangers in the Night' poster.

"Well, I'll be right there holding your hand the whole time", she said.

"Please Joey", she pleaded batting her eyelashes and biting her lip.

_Oh God, she really wasn't playing fair. First the Joey comment which she knows always gets me and then she had to bite her lip in that teasing way._

"Yeah. OK. Let's go", I quickly replied pulling her into the theatre.

IN THEATRE

During the movie, Stella was squeezing my hand at the scary parts, hiding her face with her other hand, and jumping out of her seat. It was too funny.

Stella shrieked loudly.

I smirked, "You getting scared yet Stell?"

"No", she replied pouting.

I groaned inwardly. _Why did she have to look so damn sexy when she pouts?_

"I knew it would be too scary", I said.

"I'm fine"

"No you're not"

"Yes I am", she argued.

Arguing with Stella was pretty pointless, we're both so stubborn and neither one of us ever gives in.

"Okay, well…I'm right here Stella…if you start getting too scared", I whispered the last part in her ear.

After a few minutes of screaming, she finally hid her face in my shoulder.

I started laughing. I swiftly moved the armrest between us up, put my arm around her waist and started to rub her back.

She quickly shifted her whole body towards me, draping her legs across my lap.

_Oh…my…gosh. She was practically in my lap now. And every time she moved her legs to get more comfortable I couldn't help but moan._

"You okay Joey?" she asked biting her lip again.

"Mhmm…I'm good", I replied.

Then, it was starting to seem like she was moving around on purpose. After a few more waves of pleasure shot through me, I couldn't take it anymore. I took my other hand and placed it on her legs, stopping her from moving them.

AFTER MOVIE (STILL IN THEATRE)

**STELLA'S POV**

"So how was the rest of the movie for you?" Joe asked me sweetly.

"Too scary to watch, I was falling asleep on you", I said nuzzling against him.

"Well, you can fall asleep on me anytime", he replied

I couldn't help but laugh softly at his one-liners.

"I might take you up on that", I replied.

"Please do"

"Aww Joey you're so cute", I said pinching his cheeks and ruffling his hair.

"Don't mess up the hair!" he said seriously.

"You look sexy now…got that whole 'devil may care' thing going on" I replied, matter of fact.

"And I didn't look sexy before?!" he asked shocked.

After a few minutes of talking and arguing, we got up and left the theatre.

Joe drove me home and we walked to my doorstep hand-in-hand.

**JOE'S POV**

"You know Joe…I think we should make this our new ritual" she said, turning around to face me.

_Wow. So she clearly likes me now. I knew it. And God…I couldn't be happier!_

I pulled her in close and caught her in a hug.

"I think so too", I muttered into her hair.

We pulled apart.

"Goodnight Stella"

She started to lean into me and I leaned in too, for the kiss. She placed a kiss at the corner of my mouth.

"Tease", I muttered.

She started to laugh really hard, "Joe…I'm not a tease!", she said while pushing my chest.

She slowly glided her hands down lower and lower subtly.

I quickly grabbed them before they went too far.

"Uh huh…you keep telling yourself that", I said while walking off her front porch, towards my car.

"Sweet dreams Joe", she called out.

I turned back towards her

"You too, pretty girl", I replied with a wink.

I got in my car, waited till she got in the house, and drove off.

I smirked and thought to myself; _she totally loves me._


	5. Costume Closet

**Disclaimer: Still don't own anything except the storylines!**

**A/N: HeY GuYs!!! For those of you who are reviewing, thank you so much! You guys make me want to continue writing. I'm loving all of the feedback so please continue reviewing! Sorry about not updating in a few days, I've been really stressed out and busy but for now I'm back with Chapter 5. Hope you guys enjoy this...it is a slightly shorter chapter and I already have ideas for Chapter 6, so it should be up shortly. Happy Reading from yours truly - RedRover94 :)**

**JOE'S POV**

"So…you got in pretty late last night Joe", Kevin said.

"Good date?" Nick asked.

"No…great date", I replied, smiling, remembering my date with Stella last night.

"That's awesome Joe", Nick replied.

"Yeah. We're happy for you Joe", Kev said.

"Thanks guys", I said, unable to hide the huge smile on my face.

_Get it together Joe! You're grinning like a freaking idiot!_

AT SCHOOL

**STELLA'S POV**

I grabbed my books from my locker and began walking to class, unable to stop smiling. It was like I was an animated happy face with a permanent drawn-on smile. Last night's date truly was amazing. I couldn't stop thinking about Joe, the date, and every little detail about last night.

Suddenly, I felt an arm grab me and pull me into the costume closet. I couldn't help but shriek. Some stranger pulled me into a pitch-black room!!!

The lights turned on and I was met by Joe's beautiful black locks of hair, his gorgeous eyes, and his perfect lips. Snapping back to reality, I slapped Joe on his chest, "Don't scare me like that again!"

"Mmm I really missed you last night!" Joe said, wrapping his arms around my waist, locking them in a secure hold.

_Okay, it's seriously too hard to stay mad at this boy!_

"You did?" I asked flirtatiously wrapping my arms around his neck.

"Yes I did. Especially cause you didn't give me what I wanted last night", he replied leaning in closer.

"And what was that Joey?"

"This", he said, pulling me into him.

Right before our lips met, we locked eyes, both cracked a big smile, and started leaning into each other. We were about to kiss when the door opened.

_Really? The door had to open at this very second? Geez!_

It was ditzy Ms. Dunn, the drama teacher. She walked in, looking down seeming to have dropped something.

I quickly pulled Joe down beside me, we were hiding behind boxes of clothes. I put my hand over his mouth to stop him from talking.

Before I knew it, I felt tiny feather light kisses being placed on my hand.

I looked at him confused at first, and then I smiled.

Even though he was more focused on me at the moment, someone had to make sure that Ms. Dunn didn't see us. I kept my focus on her, staring her down intently.

She grabbed a pirate costume and left, shutting the door behind her.

I moved my hand from Joe's mouth and stood up abruptly. He followed suit and clasped our hands together.

"Joe, we should really get to class now", I said starting to pull us towards the door.

Joe pulled us back, further into the closet.

"Stell", he said giving me a pleading look, "you're killing me here"

_Well what the hell! I wanted this just as much as he did right now, maybe more. And we were already late now anyways…_

I slowly leaned in, teasing him a bit and placed a soft, sensual kiss on his lips. I was massaging his lips with mine ever so slowly. I started grasping at his hair and ravaging his neck with kisses, making my way upwards, and giving his ear lobe a soft bite.

"God", he said emitting a low growl.

I smirked at this; that I had the ability to get these sounds out of him. After nibbling on his ear a bit more, my hands placed firmly on his chest, I pulled away abruptly, "All better now?"

"Heck yes", he said clearly satisfied, "Damn Stella"

"Come on now! Off to class", I said pulling us out of the closet, towards the biology lab.

**A/N: Please review guys! I really do appreciate it!**


	6. Just Hold Me

**Disclaimer: I only own the storylines and secondary characters!**

**A/N: hey buddies! so sorry for the late update - wouldnt let me post this chap for some reason. this is a little bit of a different chapter...hope you guys enjoy! it's a bit of a new storyline. i realized that on the last 2 chapters i haven't been getting any reviews...maybe 4 in total :S it really means a lot to me when you guys review and it makes me want to write the next chapter and update it sooner! so please review, it can be as short as "update :)" or anything constructive means so much! - RedRover94**

**JOE'S POV**

"Joe…wake up!" Nick yelled pushing me, causing me to roll out of bed.

"Oww!" I said holding my head.

"This better be good Nick!" I replied very annoyed.

"It's Stella", he said seriously.

_Okay, well now that was enough to wake me up. Why didn't he say that to begin with?_

"What about Stella?"

"It's her dad specifically. He's been in an accident. We gotta go to the hospital now! MOVE IT JOE!", Nick said in a rushed tone, pulling on a pair of jeans.

"Mr. Malone's been in an accident?!" I replied still dazed and confused.

"Yeah…car accident…it doesn't look so good Joe!" Nick said throwing on a t-shirt. He walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

_What is going on? Mr. Malone?! Nice and funny Mr. Malone who has always loved me…is in the hospital from a serious car accident?_

Still in shock about the news, I got up off the floor. All I wanted now was to see Stella and be with her. I grabbed the closest clothing I could find: a pair of dark jeans, a white tee, and a jacket. In record time I had put together a pretty decent outfit.

After Nick was finished, I went to go brush my teeth and wake myself up. Two minutes later, I was downstairs and was met with the rest of the family.

"Let's go guys", I heard Dad say in a hushed tone.

The Malone's were like our family and everyone's tones became somber when they spoke.

"Joe…you wearing Nick's leather jacket?" Kev asked confused.

I looked down and realized that I was in fact wearing my bro's fave jacket.

"Sorry man…I just grabbed the first things I saw", I replied beginning to take off the jacket.

"Don't worry about it Joe…we don't have the time…it looks good on you"

AT THE HOSPITAL

Mrs. Malone met us in the hospital lobby with puffy red eyes.

"Thank you so much for coming boys", she said to us while hugging Mom and Dad.

"Of course we came", I replied hugging her.

"How's he doing?" Kevin asked.

"Not so well", she began.

"He's in a coma right now…and the doctors don't know if he's going to wake up…after the first surgery…they said…", she continued talking about the extensiveness of his condition, when I interrupted her.

"Sorry to interrupt Mrs. Malone, but where's Stella?" I asked unable to keep my mind off of her.

"Stella's with her father…go to the second floor nurses station…it's the first door on the right", she replied.

"Thanks", I looked at the guys and they followed suit.

We walked into the pale, white hospital room and saw Stella holding a pretty damaged, unconscious Mr. Malone's hand.

Kev walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Jolted out of her reverie, she looked up and mustered up her best smile. He squeezed her shoulder.

Nick then went up to her, bent down so he was eye-level with her, and embraced her. He softly said to her, "We're here if you need anything". Then he pulled back, placed a chaste kiss on her forehead, and left the room with Kevin.

With the soft click of the door shutting, Stella turned to look at me and I could instantly tell that she was on the verge of crying. Then, as if out of her control, the tears started slipping from her doleful brown eyes. She turned back around.

I was still standing at the back of the room, my feet locked in position, staring at all of the tubes coming out of Mr. Malone and then occasionally glancing towards Stella.

"How?" I asked simply.

She sniffed quietly, but loud enough for me to still hear her.

"Drunk driver ran a red light"

I sighed.

_How could this have happened? All in one day?_

I walked up to her, and knelt down. Her eyes were glued to her father. I grabbed her petite hand and held it in mine. Still nothing. I started rubbing circles on her hand with my thumb.

"Stella", I gently whispered.

She finally looked at me with her tear-stained face and silently croaked out, "Joe"

I sighed with relief to hear her voice for the first time.

"Do you need anything? Anything at all?" I asked.

"Can you just hold me?" she said meeting my eyes, the tears falling once again.

I let out a breath I had been holding and slammed her body into mine in a bone-crushing hug. I could instantly feel her entire body wracking with sobs.

"Shh…shh…I'm here now…everything will be okay", I said trying to calm her down.

"N-n-o…it…w-w-won't", she said heaving.

"Stells, you gotta be positive, he's a fighter", I replied smoothing out her hair.

"He…is…g-going…to…die", she said stubbornly.

I pulled back from her abruptly, "You don't know that"

"How…c-could…this…h-h-hap-pen?"

A tear slipped from my eye, just seeing her like this. But, I willed myself to be strong…for her.

"Baby girl, you're breaking my heart"

It all happened in a blur next. All I heard was Stella's cries turn to screams and the slow constant beeping of Mr. Malone's heart monitor turn to rapid…and then there was just one long steady beep.

Asystole.

**A/N: What's gonna happen to Mr. Malone?? Review to find out! **


	7. Waiting

**Disclaimer: once again, I basically own nothing except the storylines!**

**A/N: Hey!!!! I am so very sorry for not updating. You guys did review and it really did make my day! I recently started at a new school (bummer!) so I've been adjusting and trying to find my bearings. Now that I am all adjusted :) , I hope to be updating more frequently. But school means work and lots of it in the later grades :( so I hope I'm not letting any of you down. I'm trying my best to update sooner! Hope to be hearing from my amazing readers/reviewers! Thank you so much for all the reviews you guys have given me, I truly appreciate it! Continue reading and reviewing! Much love -RedRover94 :)**

**JOE'S POV**

Somebody wearing scrubs…came running up to us…I didn't know if it was a doctor or a nurse or what…it was all too fast.

"You need to get out of here…NOW!" he said roughly ushering me out of the room.

"Stella!!" I called from out of the room.

She was balling and holding on tight to Mr. Malone's hand.

The man was now trying to pull her out of the chair towards me, but he was having a hard time to say the least.

She pushed him and held her balance, her hand wrapped around her father's and her legs gripping the back legs of the chair.

_She couldn't see him like this. She couldn't be here. She needed to get out of there…NOW!_

I ran back in the room ignoring the man's protests, went right up to her chair and picked her up, one hand under her legs and one supporting her back.

She was trying to kick me while pounding her little fists against my chest. I took her right out of the room to the waiting room.

All eyes were on us; Ms. Malone, Mom, Dad, Frankie, Kevin, and Nick. They were looking at a now much calmer Stella and me. Just me, holding her in my arms. They all looked so sad…to see her in that state.

Ms. Malone was crying and Mom was hugging her, so I assumed she already heard the news about Mr. Malone's heart stopping.

_Okay…be strong Joe!_

I sat down with Stella in my lap, her arms around my neck, and her head resting on my shoulder.

I knew this was the only situation where I could get away with holding Stella like this, her grasping onto me infront of everyone.

Everyone was distraught and unsure of what to do.

Nick, Kevin, and Frankie were playing a game of Crazy 8 Countdown, Mom was calming down Ms. Malone, and Dad was in the cafeteria getting her some food.

I glanced down at Stella only to see that she had finally fallen into a peaceful sleep. Every few minutes she would grip onto me tighter or push herself further into my lap subconsciously. As she was shifting in my lap, she kept gliding over a pretty…sensitive area.

_Oh Godddd, this feels really good! She really needs to stop this!_

And as if just on cue, the doctor walked out calling for Mr. Malone's family. Everyone piped up (except me because of Stella) and listened to what the doc had to say. After they heard, Nick came up and told me the good news; Mr. Malone was now stable and would be fine.

With a sigh of relief, I gently stroked Stella's hair and then her cheek. She shifted slightly and then I saw her beautiful brown eyes.

"Hi", I whispered gently.

"Is he…?", she said shakily.

"He's stable. He's gonna be just fine", I said smiling.

And for the first time today, she smiled. She smiled so big, showing all of her perfect white teeth, and was genuinely happy.

She quickly got up off of my lap and ran towards Ms. Malone. It was truly a beautiful thing to see. The Malones were fine and all would be well again.

She turned back to me, smiled, grabbed Ms. Malone's hand and they walked down the hall to Mr. Malone's room.

_Stella's okay. She's going to be fine now. Everything will go back to normal._

"Come on boys, it's been a long day!" Mom said telling us it was time to leave.

Now smiling, I walked over to my bros and we started chatting about the latest stupid thing Kevin had done.

**A/N: I know this is probably my shortest chapter (sorry!) Please review! Love to hear from you all!**


	8. With You

**Disclaimer: I own storylines and secondary characters.**

**A/N: Hellooooo! I am very sick :( and wasn't at school today which is why I was able to write this chapter!! It is longer than the last :) Enjoy guys and please leave a review! One more thing: for those of you who have published stories before I was wondering if you could help me. I'm a little confused about the life span of each chapter. It starts at 60 days when it's first uploaded and then it decreases everyday. As this is my first story, I am not familiar with this. Just wondering if it means that once it hits 0, it will be deleted from the site...? If any of you could explain that to me, it would be great! Love you all! -RedRover94 :)**

**STELLA'S POV**

AT SCHOOL

_He's beautiful. He truly is. Everything about him; his dark messy hair, soulful eyes, rocking body, and perfect lips. And don't even get me started about his voice…_

I shut my locker with a smile, just thinking about my boyfriend.

_Wait…boyfriend?! Was he my boyfriend? No he wasn't….was he? We still haven't had the talk._

He was coming over here.

"Hey sweetie", he said in the most caring tone.

"Hey", I said with a smile.

"How are you doing?" he replied sincerely.

"Everything's good. My dad's a lot better", I replied happy by the fact.

"That's great Stell, but how are you?", he replied so gently and quietly, emphasizing the 'you'.

I really was fine…a lot better actually, except for the fact that I just could not get him out of my mind. Why did he have to be so sweet and caring? All I wanted to do right now was kiss him and pull him into the costume closet again. But now wasn't the time.

I gave him a smile and wrapped my arms around his neck. He complied enveloping his arms around my waist.

"I'm great, really", I said creating some space between our airtight hug so I could glance at him, "I promise"

"Okay good…I was really worried about you", he said sweetly.

I looked at him and then placed a kiss right at the corner of his mouth.

"Stella! Don't be a tease!" he said seriously.

I laughed loudly.

"I'm not being a tease. I miss you Joe…a lot" I said without looking into his eyes.

He lifted my chin up with one finger and our eyes met.

"Really?"

"Mhmm", I said tugging on his shirt, "I really do"

"God. I miss you too, so much. We haven't spent time just the two of us in a while"

"I know", I said hugging him again.

He placed a kiss on my head.

BELL RINGS

"Come over tonight. My parents are out and I can get Nick and Kev to take Frankie to a movie. I wanna spend some time with you." He said whispering gently in my ear.

"I'll be there", I replied smiling.

He placed a single kiss on my lips and walked to class.

Everything else went great that day. I was happy in all of my classes, just thinking about tonight and finally getting to spend time with Joe.

LUCAS HOUSE

**JOE'S POV**

I heard a knock at the door and checked my watch. She was right on time. Nick, Kevin, and Frankie had just left. I smiled, got off the couch, and walked to the door.

"Hey Joe", she said quietly, smiling as I opened the door.

"Hey", I replied hugging her, "Are you okay?"

"Just a little nervous", she replied laughing a little.

"Don't be, we're gonna have an awesome time", I said trying to reassure her.

"I know", she said walking in the house, "So what do u want to do?"

"Well, I was thinking maybe we could watch a horror movie?" I said winking at her.

She giggled softly.

"Sounds perfect", she replied sitting on the couch looking at the horror movies on the table.

After arguing about which horror movie to watch, we finally decided. I got up and put "Scream" in the DVD player and sat down next to Stella, casually wrapping my arm around her.

She leaned right into me as the movie began.

"So…be honest Stell, how scared are you right now?"

"I'm really not that scared", she said laughing.

"No…you're supposed to say that you are scared so I can hold you" I replied as if it was common sense.

She laughed and wrapped her arms around me.

"You can still hold me you know", she replied.

I laughed too and held her to me. We intertwined our hands together.

"I've missed you…these past few days have been so hectic and I just—" I said stumbling on my words only to be interrupted by her lips on mine.

She was kissing me with such passion and intensity. We'd never kissed like this before. Her hands were in my hair, on my face, on my chest. She finally broke off the kiss after what seemed to be hours.

"I've wanted to do that since I saw you this morning", she said confidently.

"Did I mention how much I've missed you?" I replied smirking, kissing her again.

She smiled into the kiss and I picked up her legs, draping them across my lap.

After a few minutes, she broke it off abruptly.

"What's wrong?" I asked gently.

"Nothing's wrong. I just never thanked you for caring for me the way you did at the hospital. Joe I—"

This time I was the one interrupting her.

"Hey hey hey. Don't thank me. It was nothing", I said sincerely running my hand across her cheek.

"It wasn't nothing. I don't know what I would have done if you weren't there"

"Stella. I need you to understand something. You are my best friend, you've always been there for me, and I love you. I've always loved you and I always will and you know that", I said seriously.

She hugged me with a few tears slipping out. I quickly wiped them away and smiled at her.

"I could never not be there for you", I said, placing a kiss on her head.

"I love you so much", she said looking me in the eyes.

"You don't know how happy it makes me to hear you say that"

RING RING

My phone went off. It was a text.

She tugged on my arm.

"One second pretty girl", I responded opening my phone to check my messages.

Her head was now resting on my shoulder, her arm linked with mine.

_Oh My God. _

_No way. _

_It couldn't be._

"She's back", I said slowly, shocked.

"Who?" she said sensing the seriousness in my voice, pulling away from me.

I looked at her in disbelief and replied, "...Maddie"

Her eyes went wide.

**A/N: Who's Maddie?! Review to find out!!!**


	9. Maddie's Return

**Disclaimer: I only own the storylines and the secondary characters :)**

**A/N: Heyy buddies! I'm glad to see you've been reviewing. It really makes my day. Keep it up! I'm glad that you all thought that Maddie's character in the story was a 'bitch'. That was what I wanted you guys to think. She really isn't one...you'll see! **

**empty-imaginations: Your comment really made me laugh! Tell your cousin that it's not bad...well not too bad anyway ;)**

**Special thanks to Team-Jacob-Always, Summer, and brandyo123: Thanks so much for reviewing the last chapter! Please continue to review!**

**Love from RedRover94 :D Happy Reading!**

**JOE'S POV**

"…I can't believe it", I said trying to reinforce my surprise.

"Me neither", Stella answered.

"Hey, check your phone, I'm sure she texted you first", I replied, desperately hoping she did. _Stella must have found it weird that she texted me before she texted her best friend._

"Okay", she said grabbing her phone from the table and checking her messages.

"I have two missed calls from her and three text messages…oops!" she said laughing.

I couldn't help but laugh as well.

"I guess we were a little preoccupied", I said winking at her and leaning forward to capture her in a kiss.

She lightly pushed on my chest.

"Now's not the time Joe…Maddie's back!" she said with a smile, shock still evident in her voice, "I'm gonna phone her"

She got up and grabbed her phone, walking into the kitchen. All I could hear from the conversation were broken sentences; "I've missed you" "For how long?" "Yeah" "When?" "Tonight?" "Sure" "Love you too" "Bye"

_Wait! Tonight?!?! But tonight was my alone time with Stella._

"Joooeey", she called out skipping back into the T.V. room.

Laughing, I replied, "Yes Stella"

Once she reached the couch, she found a cozy spot; straddling my lap.

"Maddie's already here. Her flight got in an hour ago and she wants us to all go out for dinner. Isn't that great? She's back", she said really excited.

_I guess it was nice that Maddie was back in town. We haven't seen her in a while…it has got to be a year…maybe even two. I know Stella's missed her, and the guys have for sure._

I let my arms encircle her waist.

"Of course it's great. And, I'm glad you're so excited…"

"But?" she asked tentatively.

"Tonight is Joe and Stella time", I replied pouting a little.

"Awww…I know! And it sucks, that we can't stay like this. But we can't not go", she said, her hands now on my chest.

"Yeah I know. Okay when do we have to leave?"

"In about 20 minutes. This is great! I'm gonna go call Nick and Kevin!" she said getting off my lap and bouncing back over to the phone.

DOOR OPENS

"Hey Joe"

"Mom, how nice of you to stop by", I said loudly.

"Thanks Joseph. But this is my house you know", she replied matter of fact, hanging up her coat.

"Oh right", I responded.

"Um, Mom…Dad...", I said slightly unsure, "Maddie's back"

"She is?", Dad asked surprised as well.

"Oh my gosh! That's great" Mom said, "Stella must be thrilled!"

"She is" I replied, "We were actually gonna go out for dinner with Maddie now. Is that cool?"

"Of course", Mom said, "just be back at a respectable hour. No breaking curfew!"

"Okay", I said simultaneously grabbing my jacket with Stella's hidden underneath, "Later Mom, Dad!"

"Yes way. No. OMG. I'm serious Kevin"

That was all I heard of Stella and Kevin's phone call. Rolling my eyes, I walked up to her.

"Stella its time to go!", I whispered ushering her out the back door.

"Geez Joe! What is it?"

"Uh…nothing…don't wanna be late! Move it!" I replied hoping she would actually move.

"Alright alright…I'm so excited!" she said happily getting into the car.

"We gotta go pick up the guys first"

"Yeah I know…why aren't you more excited Joe? Maddie's one of our best friends!" she said seeming to realize my tone.

"Of course I'm excited…just kind of tired…it's pretty late"

"I guess", she replied looking out the car window.

AT THE THEATRE

"I'll call Nick…tell him to meet us outside" I said dialing the number.

"Okay"

"Hey man…we're here…okay…see you", I said through the phone.

"Joe…are you okay?", Stella asked me.

_Crap! Keep it together Joe! Don't be so obvious. Nothing really even happened between you two. Be cool._

"I'm perfect Stell", I responded giving her a kiss.

Within minutes, that one kiss lead to an entire intense make out session with tongue and wandering hands.

"Cover your eyes Frankie!" Kevin said very loudly, knocking on the car window.

_Geez...bad timing Kevin!_

"We just can't get enough alone time tonight", I said giving her one last kiss.

She smiled and wound her window down.

"Sorry about that", she said shyly.

"Err…no problem", Nick replied.

Once the guys got in the car, we took off, everyone talking animatedly about their excitement to see Maddie.

_Before, me and Maddie were really good friends…things won't we be weird at all…right?_

AT THE RESTAURANT

Everyone piled out of the car quickly; Nick, Kevin, Frankie, Stella and myself. Stella dragged me the whole way to the restaurant and once we reached the entrance, I saw her.

"MADDIE!" Stella squealed catching her in a big hug.

"STELLAAAA!!!" Maddie screamed back.

After they pulled away from their hug, Kevin greeted Maddie and then she swept Frankie up into a hug.

"Hey Maddie", Nick said enveloping her in a hug.

"Hey Lucas! Looking good", she replied winking at him.

"Right back at you", he replied giving her a kiss on the cheek.

We all laughed at their remarks.

_It was true though…Maddie did look good. Not as pretty as Stella, of course…but still pretty. Her straight, dark-brown hair was now longer and reaching the middle of her back, she had grown a bit taller, and her green eyes were still as piercing as ever._

Pulling away from Nick, she met my gaze and slowly started walking over to me.

_Please don't be awkward. Please don't be awkward. Please don't be awkward._

"Hey", I said with a smile, trying my best to look normal.

She smiled back.

"Hey Joe", she said catching me in a hug.

As soon as we broke apart from our semi-awkward hug, we were being escorted to our table.

Maddie glanced back at me once more and then linked arms with Stella, skipping over to our table.

_This could get interesting…_

**A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed! Tell me what you think --- REVIEW! :)**


	10. What Happens At Dinner

**A/N: Hello there! I cannot begin to tell you how bad I feel about the lack of updates. School's kept me so busy...sorry for those who have been waiting for chapters! As a gift to you guys, I spent all last night and the night before typing and now I am uploading 4 NEW CHAPTERS! I am expecting atleast 7 reviews (please!) I write and you review, that's how it goes! I think I only got 1 review for the last chapter :S If you guys could just leave a short review/comment about anything you liked/disliked, I'd greatly appreciate it! Enjoy these chapters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love, RedRover94**

**STELLA'S POV**

AT DINNER

"So what brings you back Maddie?", Nick asked, putting his napkin on his lap.

"Well handsome, Daddy got his old job back…so we moved back here", Maddie replied smiling and taking a sip of water.

_Handsome? You gotta love Maddie! She has no shame. I'm really glad she's back…I've missed her. However, her and Nick would totally be perfect together! They're both so gorgeous and have amazing fashion sense. It would be like… a match made in heaven!_

"Wow. Your Dad's job has just got you moving all over the place. But that's awesome. It's gonna be just like old times", Kevin said eagerly, continuing his attempt in building…something from his napkin.

_What was he building? The napkin was just folded in half…_

"It's finished!" he said with a smile, proudly staring at his napkin.

_Right…_

"Where's Frankie?" Nick asked looking around the room.

"In the arcade…he's trying to win the toy lizard from the claw machine, game, thing", Joe responded nonchalantly looking in no particular direction.

Everyone turned to peer over at Frankie. He was slamming the claw machine and walking over to another game.

"Joe…you've been so quiet…which is really weird for you, cause you usually don't stop talking and you're usually like really hyper or crazy or wacky…wacky is a funny word…" Kevin muttered to himself, trailing off.

"Kevin", Joe replied fixing him with an odd look.

"Right. What I meant to say was, are you okay?" Kevin asked clarifying his bizarreness.

"Everything's fine Kevin, I'm just tired", Joe said attempting to sound fine…which I knew wasn't true.

I reached under the table and took his hand. He glanced over at me with a small smile and squeezed my hand, letting me know he was okay. I in turn smiled at him, gave him a small squeeze as well and started to pull my hand away.

Before I was able to, Joe grabbed my hand back and intertwined our hands.

"I'm sorry guys, I know it's late", Maddie replied looking at Joe.

"Don't worry about it…we wanted to see you", Nick responded with a smile.

**JOE'S POV**

AFTER DINNER

We all said our goodbyes, it really was late and everyone was tired now…thankfully!

"I'm going to go find Frankie", Kevin said walking off…somewhere.

I looked around trying to find Stella. I really just wanted to get out of here. She was over in the corner talking to Maddie animatedly. They were laughing and smiling and probably making plans for the next few days. They apparently saw me staring and made their way over to me, right as Nick, Kevin, and Frankie walked up.

"Ready to go?", I asked everyone.

"I guess so" "Yup" "Already?" was the general consensus but in the end we all decided that it was indeed time to leave.

We were all walking out of the restaurant talking. Stella was with Frankie and Maddie at the front, then Kevin and Nick behind, and then me.

Right as I was walking out the door I was stopped by a smiling Maddie. I quickly looked around, only to see everyone already in the parking lot near the car.

_Crap._

Maddie squeezed my arm trying to get my attention. I reluctantly glanced over at her, waiting to see what she was going to say.

"Hey hot stuff, I don't even get a hug?" she play pouted.

_I couldn't help but to laugh at that comment. I didn't think she'd remember. Well, who was I kidding? How could she forget that? I sure as hell didn't._

Her green eyes were staring right through me. Oh God! Those eyes…I forgot about those eyes. I looked right at her, right through her, and I realized how much I truly missed her. But did I miss our friendship…or what we were that night? God, I didn't know.

_Say something Joe…say something. It's been like 2 minutes. She probably thinks you're retarded now._

"Of course you do, beautiful", I replied, letting her know that I remembered too.

Now she was the one laughing. I hugged her good night and placed a kiss on her head.

"We'll talk soon…?" she asked me quietly.

"Yeah, I'll call you"

_We really needed to sort this out…_

**A/N: Don't hate me! Read these next few chapters and you'll understand! And don't hate Maddie guys...she's not a bitch! I'm just creating a little love triangle :P Review!!**


	11. Flashback: The Longest Day

**A/N: This chapter is the beginning of a 3-chapter flashback. You guys will get to find out what really happened between Joe and Maddie. These next few chapters flash back to when they were 16 years old. Enjoyy and please review!**

TWO YEARS AGO

**MADDIE'S POV**

**1:32 P.M.**

"It's not fair", Stella exclaimed, tears slipping out from her brown doe eyes.

_Boy was she right!_

"Trust me, I know", I replied angrily.

_Stupid parents! Pulling me away from all my friends…my entire life was here, my entire world._

"We'll miss you Madison", Kevin said.

_What else could they really say? Wait…Kev called me Madison. They'd never called me Madison. It's always been Maddie. Always._

"Maddie", I corrected, not wanting this to be the beginning of the end of our close friendship.

We were all lounging around in the TV room, laughing, talking, and reminiscing about old times.

"Well…we should get going", Kevin spoke once more.

_Already? Wow time flies…it feels like they just got here. Puzzled, I glanced over at the digital clock on the table_.

**3:51 P.M.**

_Well, this is it…_

"Bye Maddie", Nick replied sadly embracing me in a hug, "Keep in touch", he whispered against my ear.

I squeezed him tighter just for a moment, and then quickly released him with a small smile.

"I will", I replied softly. He smiled back.

Joe then came up to me. I couldn't help but let out a small laugh. He just always made me smile with his goofiness. He picked me up and hugged me to him, whispering "Bye Maddie", in my ear.

Then, came Stell; my best friend in the entire world. I loved her more than life itself. We hugged and hugged and laughed and cried until it was time for everyone to leave. The boys had a family event to go to and Stella had to attend her cousin's wedding. So, I was all alone for the rest of the night.

I reluctantly waved goodbye as they all left the house.

**4:00 P.M.**

Once they were out of sight, I shut the front door with a sigh, looking around at this big, empty house. Not only was there no furniture, but there were no parents. They were out for the entire day shopping and then going straight to a party. They told me not to expect them home tonight. I'm a teenage girl in a house alone with no parents. How could they not expect me to throw a party? Or trash the house? Or get drunk? I would totally throw a party but there was really no point if none of my closest friends could come. Unsure of what to do, I quickly jogged up the stairs and sat quietly on my bed.

_What to do, what to do_

I picked up my copy of 'The Joy Luck Club' to try and pass the time. That didn't work.

**4:12 P.M.**

I went downstairs to watch some T.V., but nothing was on. Why wasn't anything on? This wasn't working. I had to do something.

I finally decided to go to the mall. 3 hours of shopping later, I was back at home with three new tops and a pair of ripped, black jeans.

**7:38 P.M.**

I sighed loudly. There was absolutely NOTHING to do. I went back upstairs into my room and lay down. I started to think about everything and everyone and before I knew it, I was fast asleep.

Brrrrringg! Brrrrringg!

I awoke suddenly to the sound of my phone ringing. Glancing around my eyes fixated on the clock.

**11:43 P.M.**

Woah. I guess I really was tired. I grabbed the vibrating phone from the nightstand and absent-mindedly flicked it open.

"Hello", I spoke into the phone, curious to see who would be calling me at this hour.

"Hey buddy"

"Joe", I said smiling to hear my friend's voice, "What's up?"

"Well, I know your probably getting ready to go to bed, but I can't sleep. The guys have been sleeping for a while now, and Stella's still out. Do you think I could come over?" he asked quietly, kind of like a little kid.

I laughed softly, "Well actually I just took a 4-hour nap, so I'm not really tired at all. I'll see you soon?" I asked confirming that he would be coming over.

"Yes you will. Thanks you're the best Maddie!"

I smiled at that, "Bye Joe"

**11:48 P.M.**

**A/N: Review!**


	12. Flashback: Late Night Liaison Pt 1

**A/N: Alright, second chapter in the flashback! Enjoy readers :)**

Recap:

I laughed quietly, "Well actually I just took a 4-hour nap, so I'm not really tired at all. I'll see you soon?" I asked confirming that he would be coming over.

"Yes you will. Thanks you're the best Maddie!"

I smiled at that, "Bye Joe"

**11:48 P.M.**

**----------------------------------------------**

**MADDIE'S POV**

DOORBELL RINGS AT THE WILSON HOUSE

"Hey. Thanks for coming. You saved me from my boredom", I said realizing how glad I was to have some company on my last night in town.

"Thanks for letting me", he said with a smile, "So, where are your folks?"

"At some party, remember?" I replied.

"Oh right. So I guess it's just us. What do you want to do?" he asked.

"We could watch TV", I suggested.

"Sounds good", he replied shortly.

_Why was this awkward? Things between me and Joe were never awkward._

I led him over to the couch, patting the spot next to me. He sat down and picked up the converter, flicking through channels.

"Well, it doesn't really look like there's much on", he replied, his eyes still fixated on the television.

"No, I guess not", I replied.

_Still awkward…_

Joe then looked at me with a smile that I could not return.

"Joe…I'm leaving in the morning", I said, realization of the mere few hours I had left setting in.

_I should have thrown a party…it would have kept me occupied…taken my mind off of things._

"I know", he said, looking over at me with a sad expression on his face.

"I don't want to go", I said looking up at him, "It's not fair."

_Oh crap. The tears were about to fall…I could feel them. Shit._

"I know. It's not", he said looking directly into my eyes.

_Damn it…the tears were falling now._

His entire expression changed once more. Now he almost looked like he was in pain.

"Don't cry Maddie. Please don't cry", he whispered softly.

This was all getting to be way too much. I had to get out of here.

I abruptly stood up, backing away slowly, "Sorry. I'll be right back"

Before I could make a move, Joe was right there stopping me with his arm and pulling me towards him.

_Screw it. The tears aren't going to stop anytime soon…might as well get them all out now!_

I was crying openly now. I looked up at him for a moment, unsure of what was going on.

He started wiping away my tears and he grabbed my wrists, holding them with his hands.

He was being so caring. All I really wanted to do was hug him. I wanted someone to comfort me and he was here right now. I needed him in some strange way I suppose.

"Joe…can I have a hug?" I quietly murmured looking away.

_Why couldn't I look at him?_

"Of course you can, beautiful", he said hugging me into his chest. I cried and cried into his chest for the longest time, him just rubbing my back and holding me.

"Joe, I hardly look beautiful right now. My face is all red and puffy", I said pulling away from his chest to look into his eyes.

"Oh shut up Maddie. You know you're gorgeous", he said hugging me once more, "Even now"

He whispered that last part in my ear.

_What was going on? Why did this feel like more than a friendly embrace? Is he flirting with me? No. He's not…he's just comforting me and trying to make me feel better…right?_

I pulled back suddenly.

He almost looked hurt when I did, so I gave him the biggest smile I could muster in that moment. He smiled back…but it didn't really look genuine.

"Well, I should probably get going. You must be tired after all that", he said, a little bit distant.

_Nice going Madison. I probably hurt him and now he wants to leave. Screw it…I don't care if this is weird or more than friendly…_

I pushed my smaller body into his chest abruptly, catching him off guard. I wrapped my arms around his waist and said, "I'm not really tired. Please don't go Joe. Can't you just stay here for the night?"

I think I shocked him a bit…with the hug and the request.

"Are you sure that's okay?" he said stroking my cheek with his hand, wiping away the few tears that were still slipping out.

_Okay, this whole situation was weird…but it felt right. Him holding me like this…this embrace…it all felt so right. Why did it feel so right?_

"Yeah, of course it is", I quickly replied, just wanting him to stay with me. The last thing I wanted was to be alone…I've been alone all day.

"Alright then. But you're going straight to bed, missy. All that crying, you've got to be exhausted", he said strictly.

_I really wasn't that tired…but I wanted him to stay._

"I'll feel bad leaving you here", I said staring right into his eyes.

"Don't feel bad. I'll be right here if you need me", he replied with a smile.

I hugged him once more. I really couldn't resist. He took care of me.

"Thanks for putting up with me"

"Yeah yeah yeah…off to bed now", Joe replied, kissing me on my cheek. He quickly turned back towards the television, sat down, and began flicking through the channels once more.

_Did he just kiss me? This was all a little too strange. Sleep sounded good right about now._

I was heading towards the stairs and before I went up, I looked back at him. He was getting comfortable on the couch and trying to find something to watch. I was gazing at him, his face, his body, everything…and that's when I noticed just how good looking he was.

_How have I not realized this before? Joe, my good friend…he was…well geez he was just downright hot._

_He flirted with me earlier…so it would be okay if I flirted with him a little too…right?_

I started walking up the stairs and when I turned around again, I was met with his eyes.

"Later hot stuff", I said flirtatiously with a wink, blowing him a kiss.

He started laughing and he turned towards the TV again, "Goodnight sexy", he called out.

_This was too funny. All of this. But why was I enjoying it? Why did I like flirting with him? Did I like Joe? Did he like me?_

I rushed up the stairs quickly and got settled into bed. I really needed to try and sleep. But I knew I wouldn't be able to with that gorgeous boy downstairs.

**A/N: Review please! :)**


	13. Flashback: Late Night Liaison Pt 2

**A/N: This is the final chapter in this flashback! It continues right from where the last chapter left off. Read and Review :)**

**JOE'S POV**

35 MINUTES LATER

I heard her coming down the stairs slowly, dragging her feet along.

She plopped down next to me, looking not in the least bit tired.

"Couldn't sleep?" I asked, taking my attention off the TV and focusing on her.

"No...I swear this day just won't end", she replied leaning into my side and looking at the TV.

I wrapped my arm around her to feel her shivering a little, "Are you cold?"

"A little bit…I'll go and get a blanket", she replied.

She returned with tons of pillows, all sizes, and blankets. I laughed when I saw her. Her arms were full and I could barely see her eyes. I quickly got up to help her.

We eventually found a comfortable position; her head resting on a pillow on my lap with me stroking my fingers through her long brown hair, trying to soothe her. She's had a long day and also…this would be the last time I would get to be with her for God knows how long.

I was about to say something, but she beat me to it.

"Thank you", she said softly but loud enough for me to hear her.

"For what?" I asked gently.

"For staying with me"

_Didn't she know that I wanted to be here…with her. She was moving away tomorrow and she was one of my best friends. Yeah…best friend…right? Honestly, I didn't know how I felt about Madison anymore. Tonight, all I wanted to do was hold her and comfort her and be with her. _

"Stop thanking me Maddie", I replied.

"I'm going to miss you", she said, suddenly sitting up and turning her body towards me.

"I know", I replied smirking.

"Shut up", she said pushing my shoulder.

"You love me", I teased inching closer to her, and looking right at her.

"Damn. You figured out my secret", she replied sarcastically.

"It's okay. I love you too", I responded continuing with our banter and trying to look serious.

"You do?" she asked flirtatiously, leaning into me.

"Yeah, obviously. Didn't I just tell you how pretty you were?" I replied with a smile, leaning in a bit closer.

_We were getting really close now, not that I'm complaining. But why the hell was I flirting with her? And more importantly, why did I like flirting with her?_

"I believe you said beautiful", she inched closer once more.

"And gorgeous", I added leaning in even closer.

We both burst out laughing at our words. What was going on? We'd never acted this flirtatiously or flirtatiously at all. Maybe it was because she was leaving tomorrow and we wouldn't see each other for a while…or maybe, just maybe we both did have more than friendly feelings for each other.

Once the laughing subsided, we were just staring into each other's eyes. Our position hadn't changed; we were still just as close. Our eyes locked and the moment turned serious. All I wanted to do now was kiss her.

"Joe", her voice was gentle and serious.

I was unsure of what to say…so I just said what I was thinking and feeling in that moment.

Staring into her eyes I said, "I'll miss you too Maddie"

Apparently she wanted me then just as much as I wanted her. She closed the distance between us, planting her lips firmly on mine. She was kissing me with passion, I felt it. _God I just wanted to be with her._ My hands were running all down her body. I grabbed her waist, my mouth never leaving hers, and pulled her into my lap so she was straddling me. Her hands were trailing downwards until they reached the hem of my t-shirt. She slipped her hands under the shirt feeling my stomach and my back muscles. Quickly, she pulled the shirt over my head. I continued kissing her, running my fingers through her long hair. My hands had somehow found their way over to her breasts. She began to moan quietly, her hands pulling at my thick dark locks. She broke away from the kiss and began kissing down my neck, down my chest.

"Oh Goddd", I groaned. _This was too good to be true._

She then began grinding down into my lap, eliciting moans from the both of us. I was getting hard now, and I knew she could feel it rubbing against her through our jeans. She groaned, grinding into me again…and again…and again. _No, this was too good to be true. _

"Maddieee", I moaned at the incredible feeling. She reached for my belt and began undoing the buckle.

As amazing as this would be, I didn't want her to regret it later. This was all new, we'd never been this intimate before or intimate at all. We'd never kissed or been this close. We needed to stop this before it went too far…and something told me that she wasn't planning on stopping anytime soon.

_Crap…I would have to stop it._

"Woah woah woah…we should probably slow down a bit", I said softly, my hands resting firmly on her hips.

"You're right", she spoke regaining her composure.

We both started to take breaths…our breathing returning to normal.

Suddenly, Maddie's facial expression changed and she hopped off my lap abruptly, starting to walk away.

"Maddie wait!" I called out getting up from the couch.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm such a mess. You can leave if you want. I'd understand."

She was speaking fast, her thoughts all jumbled up.

"I'm not leaving and neither are you…C'mere", I said taking her hand and pulling her back to the couch.

"Joe—"

"It's been a long day. Let's just sleep. Come lie with me", I said urging her to stay with me. I just wanted to hold her.

She was now tired, letting out a yawn as she was walking over to me. I yanked her down beside me and got her settled with pillows and blankets. I wrapped both my arms around her frame and kissed her head.

"I'm sorry about that", she whispered into my bare chest.

"I'm not. That was pretty incredible", I replied truthfully.

She smiled against me and snuggled up to my chest. "Yeah it was. But I'm glad we stopped."

"Me too", I said wondering what all this meant, "Sleep Maddie"

"Joe, what does this mean?" she asked softly.

_And there it was._

"I don't know Maddie. I just know that I don't regret it or anything about tonight."

"Me neither", she said placing one last kiss on my chest.

We both fell into a deep slumber.

**MADDIE'S POV**

I woke up the next morning alone. I looked around confusedly and saw a note on the small, wood table beside me. I unfolded the piece of paper and was met with Joe's messy hand-writing.

_Maddie,_

_Didn't want to wake you, you needed your sleep. So, I guess this is goodbye…again. I'll miss you so much (you better keep in touch!). Please don't feel bad about last night. It was pretty amazing. I know I'll always remember it. Alright beautiful, I hope to see you soon. Don't forget me!_

_Love,_

_Joe_

_P.S. I left you something…_

I looked around the large room, curious to see what it was. And then I spotted it on the pillow he was sleeping on; Joe's navy blue t-shirt from last night.

_Aww, he was so cute. Wait…what did he go home in?_

I started laughing to no one in particular, just thinking about him wandering around outside without a shirt.

I clutched the t-shirt to my chest and ran up the stairs. After a shower and breakfast, I went to my room and finished up last-minute packing, throwing the t-shirt into a nearby box.

"Madison, it's time to go!"

"Okay Dad", I replied grabbing the last of my things.

I glanced around for the last time, shut off the light, and shut the door.

END FLASHBACK

**A/N: You guys can't hate Maddie. This was way before Joe and Stella even got together! So what will happen now? Does Maddie still have feelings for Joe? Does Joe still have feelings for Maddie? What will happen when they meet to talk about it? And where does Stella fit in all of this? REVIEW TO FIND OUT!**


	14. Talks Of Terrible Timing

**A/N: Hey! So here is Chapter 14, hope you all enjoy! My last update was Chapters 10-13, and I only received 2 reviews on those chapters :( I have to say that I was disappointed...especially because all of the hits, favourite stories, author alerts, and story alerts. I think you guys can do better! I put a lot of time and effort into these stories so please just leave me a short review and make me feel appreciated! Just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who has reviewed my story! I love you guys! xoxo RedRover94**

**JOE'S POV**

_I should text her…or call her. I think I said I would call her…or did I say text? Geez. What time is it anyways?_

I glanced over at the clock on the microwave, it read: 8:31 A.M.

_Wow…it was early…too early to call._

I pulled out my phone, flipped it open, and started to compose a message.

**Hey Maddie. Give me a call when you wake up. Joe. **

Now, I just had to wait for her to call.

My phone started vibrating right as I hopped out of the shower. Scrambling around to find a towel, I quickly covered myself up and opened the phone. It just felt too weird to answer the phone when I wasn't dressed, even if she couldn't see me.

"Hello" I spoke into the phone, running a comb through my hair.

"Hey. What's up Joe?" Maddie replied happily.

"Are you free today…to talk?" I asked nervously.

"Yeah…want to come over?"

"When?"

"Is now good?" she asked.

"Uh sure. See you in a few", I said.

"Bye", she replied.

DIAL TONE

10 MINUTES LATER

I got out of the car, slowly walking up the Wilson's driveway. I rang the doorbell, anxiously waiting outside; doing something awkward with my hands.

I heard her footsteps growing louder and louder, coming closer and closer until the door opened and I was met by her face.

"Hi", I spoke softly.

"Hi", she replied in the same tone.

I think we were both remembering the last time we were in this doorway, standing in this position, and what it had led to.

"Come in", she spoke pulling me out of my reverie.

I nodded and walked into her house, stopping when I was in her living room. Everything looked pretty much the same; that brown couch was still there. She was quietly standing behind me, looking around. I went over to the couch and took a seat, she quickly followed suit.

After a few minutes of silence, her voice sounded through.

"So…", she said quietly.

"I'm with Stella", I blurted out suddenly.

_Where in the hell did that come from? Way to rush things Joe!_

Her expression changed a little. An etch of pain flickered across her features, but I could tell she was trying to smile.

_God, this was so messed up, this whole situation…talk about bad timing!_

"Yeah I kind of figured after last night", she said with a smile that was so obviously fake, "Joe, were you mad at me yesterday?"

_Now I felt bad. It wasn't her fault about my sour mood last night. I mean…it sort of was…she came back…but it really wasn't. The timing with everything was just so off._

"No, I'm sorry for acting like a jerk. It's just that I'm with Stella now, and I know we never really talked about what happened…that night, but you coming back and everything…I thought it would mess up everything with Stella", I spoke all jumbled, so many thoughts coming at me at once.

"So, you just thought that my coming back was about you? You thought I would mess up everything with Stella?"

_Okay…that probably wasn't the best choice of words._

"Maddie—"

"I didn't come back for you Joe. I didn't have a choice. I'm only here because of my Dad's job", she spoke angrily.

"I know that. I'm sorry. That's not what I meant", I tried to justify myself.

_Idiot. Idiot. Idiot._

"You know that I'm glad you're back"

Even though everything now was so confusing and awkward...all in all, this is Maddie we're talking about. How could I not be happy that she was back? Ecstatic even? Glad was an understatement. Putting my relationship with Stella aside and what Maddie's return would cause, one of my best friends was back. And, I was happy about that.

She fixed me with a "yeah right" kind of look.

"I am Maddie. It's just that I don't know what I'm supposed to do now"

"You're supposed to do nothing", she said seriously.

_How can she say that? How can I possibly do nothing? She's back! And, why does she look so serious, so solemn?_

"But I—", I began...attempting to make her understand how I couldn't just forget.

Once again, her voice sounded through, cutting me and my train of thought off.

"Stella's my best friend and I know you. You're good for her. We shared one meaningless night together two years ago. There's not really a choice there Joe"

"It wasn't meaningless", I said firmly.

_Was that night meaningless to her? Cause it sure as hell wasn't to me._

"Well it's meaningless now. It was two years ago. We didn't really keep in touch Joe, you have a girlfriend now. I can't hurt Stella. So let's just forget about it"

"Maddie, I don't know if I can do that", I replied honestly.

"Don't make this harder than it needs to be", she said sharply.

"Maddie—", I tried to reason with her.

"It was two years ago Joe!"

"Stop saying that! I don't care how long ago it was. That night meant something. It wasn't meaningless. Just admit it!" I said, yelling now.

Her eyes widened as I spoke. She replied in a much calmer, softer tone…probably trying to get me to lower my voice.

"I know it wasn't meaningless. But you've moved on"

In that moment, with the tone of her voice, I realized this was just as hard for her as it was for me, probably harder. But, she was right. We couldn't do this now. I'm with Stella and I loved her.

"Yeah", I said softly.

"I'm happy for you guys", she said smiling.

"Thanks", I replied trying to see if her smile was real or not. It seemed genuine…maybe she's moved on too. Maybe she doesn't want this.

"Well I should get going", I spoke abruptly.

"Okay", she said walking me to the door, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow"

"Yeah"

_Wait… tomorrow?_

"Wait…what's tomorrow?" I asked confusedly.

"School", she replied as if it was common sense.

"School?" I questioned.

"Yeah…I'm back at Horace Mantis…didn't you hear?" she asked.

"Oh yeah, of course…it must have slipped my mind", I said with a smile.

_Great. This won't be awkward at all…_

"Ok, see you tomorrow"

"Yeah, bye", I said walking out of the door.

She closed the door with a thud and I didn't even make it back to my car by the time I was anxiously knocking loudly on her door.

She opened it perplexed, "Joe, what are you—"

I pulled her so close to me, and wrapped my arms tightly around her frame. She must have been pretty shocked, her whole body tensed, but I didn't dare let go. It wasn't until a few minutes later that she embraced me too. Her hands rested firmly on my upper back and my hands were smoothing out her long hair. She was gripping onto my shirt as I placed a lone kiss on her head. We were hugging for about five minutes too long.

She pulled away and her deep green eyes pierced through mine.

_Man, those eyes._

"Sorry. I just needed to do that", I said suddenly.

_Wow, that sounded stupid. But it was true. I needed to hold her one last time…get some form of "closure". Closure? Holy crap! I sounded like a girl._

"It's okay", she said, seeming to understand.

"See you tomorrow", I said walking out the door.

And that was that. My whole focus would be on Stella now; it had to be.

LATER THAT NIGHT

**MADDIE'S POV**

I jumped out of the shower and tied my hair up with whatever scrunchie was lying around. I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and went to my room. Quietly, I changed into a pair of dark pink pajama pants and a navy blue t-shirt that was way too big…a shirt that I shouldn't have anymore…a shirt that I really shouldn't be wearing. I sighed loudly.

_What am I going to do?_

**JOE'S POV**

I couldn't fall asleep. I tossed and turned and tossed and turned. I started thinking about Stella, my beautiful girlfriend. I smiled just thinking about her, but I couldn't stay focused on her for long, my mind wasn't letting me. It kept on wandering off to a certain green-eyed brunette. I couldn't help but frown. This is not good…

_What am I going to do?_

**A/N: Next chapter will be Maddie's first day at Horace Mantis! Review for an update :)**


	15. First Days Aren't Always Rough

**A/N: Hey!!! Just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who has reviewed. It really means a lot. So I have something to run by you guys and I wanted to get your opinions. This story was meant to end Joe/Stella...but now there is a very strong possibility that it might end Joe/Maddie. Thoughts? Comments? Feedback? I'm not saying that that's how the story will end because the ending has not been decided/written yet. I know you all are Joe/Stella fans, but I was wondering if there were any of you that might be up for a Joe/Maddie happy ending. (?) Please send your thoughts! Alright, so as promised Chapter 15!!!! EnjoY :) -RedRover94**

**MADDIE'S POV**

I hate uniforms. I didn't realize how much I hated them until I looked in the mirror. I truly looked stupid. Stupid plaid, stupid tie, stupid kilt, stupid shoes, stupid everything!

I left my hair down and made a mental note to get a haircut. I quickly dabbed on some light brown and tan eye shadow to accentuate my green eyes, and finished the look with brown mascara. Satisfied with my eyes I moved on to my lips, applying baby pink lip gloss. My hair looked a little messy, just how I liked it. I finished the look with some light translucent powder on my face.

My cell phone vibrated on the nightstand. I unplugged it from its charger and read the message. It was from Stella, "We're here!!!!!!!!"

_She was way too happy on a Monday._

I quickly replied, "Cominggg!"

I grabbed my tan leather backpack with my purse stuffed inside and ran down the stairs.

"Bye Mom. Bye Dad", I yelled running out the door.

"Have a good day sweetie", I faintly heard.

Joe's car was in the driveway and I could barely make out anyone's faces. The back door opened and I hopped in; Stella and Kevin were already in the backseat. Joe was driving and Nick was in the passenger seat. They all greeted me and we were on our way.

I felt a lot better to have all of them here with me…it's not really like starting over. And I would know some people from before I left…hopefully they'll still remember me. But still, it sucked to transfer in the middle of the year…I mean who transfers in March?

Everyone came with me to the office to pick up my timetable:

**Day 1 Day 2 . **

**Visual Arts** _(with Stella and Kevin) _**SPARE** _(same as Joe)_

J. Russell

**Biology** _(with Nick) _**Chemistry**

R. Smith J. Cheung

**Advanced Functions ****Calculus and Vectors** _(with Stella)_

M. Mayan A. Tait

**AP English** _(with Nick)_ **World History** _(with Joe)_

B. Harrison D. Armstrong

It wasn't too bad…I had all the same courses as before. However, World History did look pretty difficult. I loved my maths and sciences, so I wasn't too worried. I had pretty good teachers as well, I've already had Smith, Mayan, Tait, and Cheung…so hopefully they still remembered me! And the best part was first period spare…that was awesome!

"Is today a day 1 or day 2?" I asked peering at my schedule.

"Day 2", Nick replied glancing at my schedule, "So that means you have…spare, with Joe"

BELL RINGS!

"See you guys", Stella said hugging me and giving Joe a peck on the lips. I quickly turned away on instinct. It was still a little awkward for me.

"Later", Nick and Kevin said with a wave walking off to whatever class they had.

"So…", I said glancing up at Joe.

"Let's go to the cafeteria…are you hungry?" he spoke happily.

"Um…yeah I guess", I responded.

"Great", he said tugging on my arm and dragging me towards the cafeteria.

_Well…atleast this wasn't as awkward as I thought it would be. It hardly was awkward thanks to Joe._

We stood in line glaring at the very unappetizing food. I started laughing as his face contorted into a look of disgust.

"Maybe we should go out to eat?" he said questioningly staring at me.

"Definitely", I replied walking out of the cafeteria.

We ended up grabbing food at the McDonald's across the street.

"What time do we have to get back?" I asked taking the last bite of my hashbrown.

"Why? Anxious to get rid of me?" he asked with a smile.

"Of course not", I replied stumbling a little, not wanting him to get the wrong idea.

"I was just playing with you Maddie", he replied with a big smile, "We should probably head out in about 10 minutes"

"Okay", I replied taking a sip of my orange juice. My eyes flicked towards him and he cracked a smile.

BACK AT SCHOOL

MADDIE'S LOCKER

**JOE'S POV**

"What do you have next?" I asked Maddie, wondering if we had next period together.

"Umm…", she said whipping out her schedule, "Chemistry with Ms. Cheung"

"That's not too bad…atleast you know Ms. Cheung", I said with a smile.

"Yeah", she replied. Guess we didn't have second period together.

_I wonder if we have any classes together._

Seeming to have read my mind she asked, "Well, what do you have third and fourth period?"

"English with Roberts and World History with Armstrong", I replied hoping we shared another class today.

She smiled, "We have World History together"

"Awesome"

_Gosh, why did she have to be so beautiful? _

Man, my feelings were just so screwed up. I'd never felt this way before. I wanted to be so much closer to her, yet I wished we were a mile apart. I wanted to have all my classes with her, but I wanted to have none. I just wanted to hug her whenever I saw her, and then I wanted to run away. I loved her for coming back, but I hated her for it.

"You okay Joe?" Maddie asked me, her hand now on my arm.

I looked around to see people walking the halls, doors opening, and suddenly everything got loud. Apparently, the bell had rung.

"Yeah, I'm fine…just zoned out for a minute", I replied my eyes now fixated on her hand on my arm.

She quickly retracted her hand and placed it firmly at her side.

With a somewhat nervous smile, she said, "I better get to class"

"Yeah, me too", I replied.

She shut her locker and I looked at her once more; her expression wasn't as happy or as smiley as it just was, she now looked a little nervous…almost frightened.

"Hey, you'll be fine", I spoke while pulling her into a hug.

She instantly froze in my arms…maybe I shouldn't have hugged her. But, she looked unsure and scared, starting anew was always rough. Just as I was about to pull away from her and apologize, she hugged me back.

_Why does that always happen?_

A few moments later, I reluctantly pulled away, not wanting her to be late on her first day. She glanced up at me with a small smile, "Thanks Joe"

She turned away from me and began walking down the hall to whatever class she had next…I really couldn't remember.

_Stop thinking about her!_

"I need to go find Stella", I said to no one in particular, running off to class, glad to have next period with my girlfriend.

SECOND PERIOD

**JOE'S POV**

"Hey you", Stella said as I walked in class sitting next to her.

"I've missed you", I abruptly said hugging her, breathing in the scent of her strawberry shampoo, trying to erase thoughts of Maddie.

"Aw, I've missed you too. Did you and Maddie have fun?" she asked me her fingers running through my hair.

I wanted to be with Stella to escape Maddie…and now she's bringing Maddie up.

"Yeah we did", I said smiling hoping there would be no more questions about Maddie.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ms. Roberts walk in the class. Perfect timing!

I smiled at Stella, and turned to the front, focusing all my attention on Ms. Roberts and today's lesson.

LUNCH

**STELLA'S POV**

Joe and I walked out of class hand in hand, heading towards our lockers, where we met up with Nick and Kevin.

"Hey guys. Where's Maddie?" Kevin asked.

"I'll text her", I replied whipping out my cellular, sending her a message.

"No need Stell, she's right there", Nick said pointing to the other side of the hall where Maddie was animatedly talking to Austin and Malcolm.

"Well that didn't take long", I replied laughing.

I caught her attention and waved her over. After saying goodbye to the guys, she happily skipped over to us.

"Hey guys", she said as bubbly as ever, "What's up?"

"Lunch, it's calling", Kevin replied walking towards the cafeteria with Nick and Joe.

I wrapped my arm around Maddie pulling her to the side.

"Austin and Malcolm?" I asked smirking at her.

She laughed and nodded her head with a smile.

"Details NOW!" I said excitedly.

THIRD PERIOD

**MADDIE'S POV**

I pulled out my schedule from my bag, Calculus with Stell. That should be good...call me a nerd, but I actually loved Math. The class was going by pretty slowly; math classes always do, don't they? But, surprisingly the day actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I had fun with Joe during spare, met up with tons of people who still remembered me in Chem, Calc was very boring but I still liked it and I'm with Stella, and hopefully World History wouldn't be too hard. Finally, the bell sounded through interrupting my thoughts.

FOURTH PERIOD

**JOE'S POV**

I sat at one of the desks in the back, hoping to sleep through Mr. Armstrong's imminent boring lecture. Just as I was ready to take a long nap, Maddie walked in and waved at me.

_Wow…I actually forgot she was in this class._

I gestured over towards her and she began walking up to the empty desk next to me.

"Hey", she said slinging her bag off her shoulder, taking a seat.

"Hey, how's your day going?" I asked shifting my body towards her.

"A lot better than I thought it would", she said seemingly happy.

"That's great", I replied enthusiastically.

"Yeah, I think it's going to be a really good year…well rest of the year", she spoke ecstatically pausing to correct herself.

"Yeah", I replied getting out my books for class.

_Guess I wouldn't be able to sleep now…_

**A/N: Review please...any feedback is greatly appreciated! Also, your thoughts about the ending of the story (I'm very curious to hear your opinions :P)**


	16. Return To Normalcy?

**A/N: Hey everyone! I appreciate the reviews on the last chapter and I've taken your thoughts on the ending into consideration. Shoutouts to all who reviewed! Thank you :) I know I haven't updated in a while, but with the Christmas break coming up, hopefully there will be more frequent updates. I have a feeling that you guys might like this chapter! (some Joe/Stella cuteness). Please review! I appreciate the feedback. Happy Reading~! -RedRover94**

**JOE'S POV**

AT SCHOOL

For the past few weeks, things seemed to be going well. My relationship with Stella couldn't be any better and I had the mastered the ability to control my thoughts…thankfully! At school, my occurrences with Maddie seemed to be less and less frequent. Whenever we had spares we didn't really hang out anymore. I usually slept in and strolled into class at the last minute whereas Maddie spent her free periods studying in the library. And as for history, Armstrong made a seating plan and we were now sitting at opposite ends of the room. As the distance between us grew farther apart, my feelings for her began to fade, and honestly I was glad.

Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a chipper blonde bouncing right up to me.

"Hey", Stella spoke smiling wide, her eyes sparkling.

"Hi", I replied greeting her with a kiss, "What's up?"

"Wanna go to a party tonight at Austin's?" she asked cheerily, "Everyone's going"

"Who's everyone?" I asked genuinely curious to know who was coming to this party I had heard nothing about until just now.

"Well Kevin, Nick, and Maddie all said they'd come", she spoke beginning to walk the hall with me as I shut my locker.

"Cool. We'll pick you guys up then", I said grabbing her hand, intertwining it with mine.

"Great", she replied pulling me into the cafeteria.

LATER THAT NIGHT

"Seriously, what is taking them so long?" Nick asked starting to sound a tad annoyed.

"I'll text them again", I said pulling out my phone.

Even I'll admit, this is pretty ridiculous. I mean I know it takes girls a long time to get ready…but man!

_Feel free to come out anytime now…-Joe_

As soon as I shut my phone, it began vibrating: 1 new message. Sighing, I flipped open the phone once more, _Sorry we're coming out now! – Stella_

"There they are", Nick said pointing out the window, "Wow…I gotta say Maddie's looking pretty hot"

I instantly jerked up peering out the window. Maddie was wearing a pair of dark ripped jeans and a navy blue plaid shirt. There's something about a girl wearing guys clothes that's just incredibly sexy. But damn Nick was right, she did look pretty hot…but so did Stell in a cute floral top with leggings.

They hopped in the car and we were finally off.

AT THE PARTY

"Madison!"

A loud voice sounded through calling Maddie. We all shifted to see who it was. Austin walked over towards us picking up a squealing Maddie in a hug.

"So cute", I heard Stella whisper in my ear. I faked a smile and nodded dragging her over to the other side of the house.

This party was a pretty good one, I had to admit. People were actually socializing, dancing, and having a good time. Added bonus: there were only a few drunken idiots at this one. We were all having a good time as well and I was actually happy that we came.

Suddenly, I felt a small hand tug on my forearm. Smiling I turned around and was met with blonde hair and brown eyes.

"Dance with me", she spoke gently, her eyes sparkling in delight.

This was kind of funny. She was asking me to dance now and not too long ago at the Winter Formal, I was the one wanting to dance with her.

"Mm I don't know", I began, my eyes twinkling with mischief.

She looked at me half surprised, half amused.

"Maybe we should wait for Ben Krinsky to sweep you away…and then I'll come and save you", I said smirking at her.

"Sweetie you didn't "save" me", she began gently, emphasizing on the word "save."

I fixed her with a look, urging her to continue.

"You just interrupted us because you wanted to dance with me", she spoke lightly poking my chest with her index finger.

I was utterly amused by this entire conversation and she was definitely turning me on right now.

I took a step closer to her, placing my right hand at her waist.

"Well that's true, but admit it you were glad that I interrupted your dance", I spoke in a teasing way.

"Of course I was glad, I never denied that", she said smiling, "But it doesn't look like Ben's here…", she said trailing off.

I didn't want to give into her just yet, so I merely shrugged my shoulders, a smile tugging on my lips. "Yeah, it's too bad", I responded.

"Yeah it is, I'm just going to go find Nick, I'm sure he'll dance with me", she said twirling around and walking off towards him.

_Damn, she was good._

I quickly went after her, grabbing her hand and turning her around to face me.

"Yes Joe", she spoke innocently.

"Nicely played", I spoke succumbing to her.

Seeing that our little charade was over, she giggled lightly.

"I would love to dance with you", I said pulling her to my chest and clasping my hands around the small of her back.

Her hands trailed upwards from my waist to my upper back where she finally settled them on my shoulder blades.

I smiled to myself looking to the girl in my arms, realizing just how much I truly did love her.

Seeming to have read my thoughts, she quietly murmured, "I love you" into my shoulder.

I was grinning now as I placed a kiss to her head, smoothing out her hair, "I love you too"

She pulled away from my grasp slightly and our lips met in a sweet, tender kiss. She pulled away from me with a somewhat nervous smile, biting her lip, which was truly adorable, and she knew it too. I readjusted my hands, placing them on her waist and pulling her closer to me. She gave me a full smile and laid her head to rest on my shoulder once more.

I missed this girl so much, even though she was always there, it felt like I lost her for a little bit and now everything was back to the way it was; everything was back to normal now.

I glanced upwards filled with happy but when I saw Maddie and Austin kissing on the couch across from us, I felt a wave of jealously ripple through my body.

Everything was _almost_ back to normal.

**A/N: Comments? Feedback? Leave a review! :)**


	17. Stolen Glances

**A/N: Hey guys!!! So sorry for the lack of updates, I realize that it's been about 2 months! My life's been crazy hectic with some unexpected turns. Everything seems to be back to normal now which is great. Alright so I've actually been working on a new story! I've already written multiple chapters for it and it looks very promising. It's a Jacob/Bella Twilight story based on a scene in New Moon and it just takes off from there. Basically my take on what should have happened. Hopefully I will be posting the story soon and I would love to get your feedback on it if there are any Jacob/Bella fans out there! Let me know if any of you would be interested in reading it. :) Okay back to Always Here. This chapter is a bit of an odd double date with Joe, Stella, Maddie, and Austin. Hope you enjoy and please leave a review on your thoughts/criticism! Happy Reading~! - RedRover94**

**MADDIE'S POV**

AT SCHOOL

So, Austin's party was all the talk on Monday morning. Everyone was talking, gossiping, and showing pictures on their digital cameras or cell phones from Friday night. A few people even asked me if I was Austin's girlfriend, including my best friend Stella…

"You guys are together right?" Stella questioned bubbling with excitement.

"No Stell, we only hung out that one time", I replied trying to avoid all the glances I was receiving walking down the hall, "We haven't even been out on a date"

"Well you guys should definitely go out. You're so cute together", she gushed in a high pitched voice.

"Yeah, I guess", I replied nonchalantly.

"OMG we should definitely double! Me and Joey and you and Austin!" she spoke cheerily.

I fixed her with an exasperated look, "Double dates are always awkward and uncomfortable"

"True, but it's me and Joe…it won't be awkward at all Maddie", she said confidently, "It will be fun"

I couldn't help but laugh at the irony of it all.

_It's you and Joe, it will be way more awkward!_

Stella could obviously sense my hesitance. She pleaded, "Please, please, please"

I couldn't take it anymore, so I gave in. _How bad could it really be? _"Alright fine, you have to set it up though"

"Yay!" she said happily, "Oh here's Joe"

Stella called out to him and it didn't take long before he was standing right next to us, wearing a big smile.

"Hello ladies", he said glancing to the both of us.

"Okay, so we're doubling tonight. Me, you, Maddie, and Austin. Fun, right?" Stella asked.

Joe's eyes fixated towards me right then. He was practically staring me down.

_Did he think this would be awkward too?_

He quickly averted his eyes, breaking our contact suddenly, "Yeah sounds like a good time Stells"

DOUBLE DATE AT MATT'S COOKHOUSE

The night was pretty boring to tell you the truth. Stella was the only one trying to make conversation, Joe looked like he was about to fall asleep, and Austin was just smiling and being polite.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Stella whisper something to Joe. He just nodded in return and she got up and excused herself. It was just me, Joe, and Austin now.

_Alright, this might get a little awkward…_

Joe instantly sat up in his chair and suddenly seemed wide awake. He glanced towards me and our eyes met with such an intense contact. His eyes were boring into me, conveying numerous emotions. Sadness, passion, intensity, innocence, honesty, and maybe even jealousy. He was scaring me.

I quickly diverted my eyes away from him and towards Austin. Austin began talking excitedly about the latest high school drama but I just couldn't give him my full attention. I quickly glanced back to Joe and when I met his eyes, he only showed one emotion now…hurt.

My heart broke right there and I was unsure of what to do next. Thankfully Stella sat back down and began talking to Joe. He looked happy but I couldn't tell if he was being genuine or not.

The rest of the night I gave my full attention to Austin and I actually had a really good time. Aside from being cute, Austin was really sweet. Sure he was corny at times, but he made me feel comfortable and he was really funny.

The night had finally come to an end and all in all I thought it was pretty good. Austin offered to drive me home even though I had originally came with Joe and Stella and I just couldn't refuse. We were all saying our goodbyes. Me and Stella exchanged a quick hug and a 'call you later' while Joe and Austin stood around awkwardly. They didn't seem like they were getting along too great. Stella gave Austin a hug and they ended up striking up conversation. I flicked my eyes upwards to meet Joe's and he began walking towards me. I waited for him to come to me and when he did, he held out his arms for a hug, a goofy smile tugging at his lips. I laughed slightly and embraced him in a hug. We both pulled away at the same time, wishing each other a good night.

_Why was he acting normal now? He was just staring me down with an intensity I've never experienced before._

...That was a weird night.

**A/N: Review** **:) Let me know if any of you would be interested in my new fic as well!**


	18. Dreaming Of You

**A/N: Hey readers. Another chapter for you guys! I can't stress enough how motivating it is to receive feedback. Please leave a short review, even something as simple as 'update!' Come on: I write and you review. That's how it goes :P Shout out to Team-Jacob-Always. Thank you for the revieww! Happy Reading :) -RedRover94**

LUCAS HOUSE

**JOE'S POV**

"Joe", I heard a sweet voice call.

_She started walking over to me slowly and sensually. She straddled my lap and began placing rough bites at my ear._

"_Mm…"_

_She started massaging the muscles in my chest, placing rushed kisses down my neck._

"_Mmmm"_

_Her hands were pulling at the hair at the nape of my neck, and she was now sucking on my neck._

"Joe", I heard the voice once more, louder now.

I was suddenly being awoken, shaken.

_Damn, that was a good dream!_

I opened my eyes and was met with Stella's.

"Hi", I said smiling sleepily.

"Hi", she replied kissing me. She quickly broke away, something obviously on her mind.

"Sorry for waking you…sounded like a pretty good dream", she said with a wink.

_Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. Was I talking in my sleep?_

She sensed my instant terror and began to laugh, "Don't worry, you didn't say anything too embarrassing"

"Oh okay, good", I spoke immensely relieved by her words.

"So what were you dreaming about?" she said crawling up to me in the bed. Instinctively I welcomed her into my arms and held her safely against me. It just felt natural.

"You", I said, blatantly lying to my girlfriend.

"Aww", she spoke snuggling into my arms. I placed a kiss atop her head.

_Shit. I can't stop thinking about her and now I'm dreaming about her. Perfect. Just freaking perfect._

"Oh. Did Kevin tell you about tonight?" she asked running her fingers down my arm lightly.

_Tonight?!_

"What's tonight?" I asked her puzzled.

_No one ever tells me what's going on._

"Movie night and Maddie's coming", she spoke eagerly.

"Oh great", I said in a tone that was way too sarcastic than it should have been.

But Stella didn't seem to notice. "It is, isn't it? Now it will be just like old times, literally"

"Yeah", I replied scenes of that passionate dream running through my head.

Stella left a few minutes later. She had errands to run or something like that. I got out of bed, grabbed some clothes, and hopped into the shower.

When I was finally dressed and ready, Nick, Kevin, and I went to the grocery store. We were picking up all the pop, junk food, popcorn, and unhealthy treats we could find. It was movie night after all. And this was tradition.

MOVIE NIGHT

Madison was running late. Nick, Kevin, and Stella were already comfortable on their respective couches. I grabbed the bowl of Fuzzy Peaches from the kitchen and went to the living room.

"So what are we watching?" I asked taking a seat on the couch next to Stella.

"Well we haven't been able to decide", Nick spoke clearly annoyed, his eyes practically burning a hole through Stella.

I laughed loudly and earned a slap on the arm from Stella.

DOORBELL

"I'll get it", Stella said skipping towards the door like a 5-year old, returning moments later with a smiling Maddie.

Thankfully, the guys didn't bother standing up to give her a hug. They just greeted her with a 'Hey Maddie' and a smile. After the dream that I had this morning, there was no way I could bear giving her a hug.

Nick quickly patted the seat next to him for Madison to sit and she obliged with a smile. She sat down next to him and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck for a hug. Kevin was in his favourite chair beside them and me and Stella were sitting on the couch opposite them.

I don't even know what movie we ended up watching. I couldn't pay attention. My eyes kept on drifting, wandering over to Nick's arm around Maddie and her head on his shoulder.

_This freaking sucks. I need to get out of here._

I told Stella that I would be right back and quietly excused myself. I went into the kitchen and sat down at the counter, laying my head against the cool marble. I tried to tune everything out. I just didn't want to go back in there. Just as I thought, Stella walked in a few minutes later to check on me. She ruffled my hair with her hands and placed a kiss on my head.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" she asked gently, taking a seat next to me.

"Nothing", I replied lifting my head from the counter and rubbing my eyes.

She gave me a look that basically said 'I know you better than that.'

"I'm just tired", I spoke lying to her once more. This was not a good thing.

"Guys! Get back in here! Megan Fox!" Kevin yelled from the living room.

Stella held out her hand to me with a tempting offer, "Come on. I'll be your pillow. You don't have to watch the movie"

Well I really couldn't resist that. I grabbed her hand and pulled her into a hug first. She pulled away though and dragged me back into the living room much to my pouting.

Stella sat down at one end of the couch and grabbed a pillow, placing it on her lap. I reluctantly sat next to her, sprawling out on the couch, my head in her lap. I turned my body so I was facing her stomach and tried to actually fall asleep. But when you've got a lot on your mind or a certain person on your mind who just so happens to be in the room, it's not easy. Also, I was getting worried that I might have another dream…

_Dear God, just let this movie end!_

Thankfully, it did end about half an hour later which wasn't too bad. Everyone thought I was still asleep and to avoid looking at Maddie, I pretended that I was.

"I'll walk you home", Nick spoke, obviously talking to Maddie.

I didn't hear her response so I just assumed that she nodded or something like that.

Maddie was saying her goodbyes to everyone. I already heard the 'Bye Kev' and she was leaving with Nick so that just left me and Stell.

I could feel her standing right up against the couch. She leaned over me and gave Stella a hug and a 'good night.' I shut my eyes tightly and tried to get my breathing even so it really seemed like I was sleeping. But that wasn't working out too well. So I just settled on the closed eyes. I felt her come in closer contact with me and I began to get nervous. She bent down so she was level with me and gave me a kiss on the head, gently patting down my thick hair afterwards.

I heard Stella call out once more, "Bye Maddie"

The door closed with a thud and Kevin's voice rang through, "Need any help?"

Stella replied quietly running her fingers through my hair, "That's alright. I got him. Good night Kev"

"Night Stell", he spoke, his footsteps growing softer as he left the room.

Stella gently "woke" me up and took me up to my room, getting me settled. She really was the most amazing girlfriend. I thanked her repeatedly, but she just brushed me off insisting that it was nothing. She kissed me good night and left the room.

_Why can't I have dreams about Stella like that? Why can't I get butterflies around her? Why can't I stop thinking about someone I shouldn't be thinking of? I wish I could go back to feeling the way I felt before Maddie came back. But clearly I can't. I don't deserve someone as amazing as Stella. She deserves better than someone like me._

_I hate myself. _

**A/N: Review please!**


	19. Confessions

**A/N: Hey readers! Here is the next chapter! Sorry for the lack of updates. Enjoy :) -RedRover94**

**JOE'S POV**

Madison and Austin were walking down the hall hand in hand and all smiles. It was sickening. My stomach was churning. Unfortunately I didn't have anything to keep my mind off of Maddie today as Stella was home sick. How bad did that sound? 'I couldn't keep my mind off of her' This really was getting ridiculous. Madison just pissed me off. She was basically playing everyone. There she is all chummy with Austin, that prick, clearly Nick had a thing for her but I just pretended differently, and then there was me. The guy that she spent a 'meaningless night' with two years ago. I sighed to myself. Who was I fooling? Madison's not a player, she's just a sweet girl. But God how I wished that she was. At least then I could hate her.

She flashed me a smile from across the hall and I instantly got nervous, and as she walked by me and her arm barely brushed mine, how I shivered.

I think it's time that Madison and I talked and the sooner we talked about this, the better. Hmm, I have spare now and Maddie has spare now, it would be the ideal time. But what the hell would I even say? There was nothing to say, it would be a repeat of the conversation we had when she first came back. Nothing would be different. But I had to do something, this was literally driving me insane. I just needed to talk to her.

I stalked after her down the long busy hallway and gripped her arm roughly for fear that she'd be swept up in the heap of students.

She turned and I pulled her arm closer to me and spoke, "Hey, can we talk?"

"Sure", she spoke with that goddamn smile, following me down the hall.

"You have spare now, right?" I asked full well knowing the answer.

"Yeah", she replied, "What's up?"

"Do you mind if we go to the cafeteria?" I asked hesitantly. I needed to talk to her privately.

"Sure", she spoke seeming to sense my distractedness, "Is everything okay?"

"Not really", I replied honestly. Nothing about this situation was okay.

I led her to an empty table near the back and made sure that there was nobody around us. I didn't want anyone to hear what I would be saying.

"Joe, what's going on?" she spoke gazing at me with those striking green eyes.

I instantly lowered my head. What the hell do I say?

_Just say it Joe!_

"Look, I know we talked when you got back but I can't help the way I feel anymore. I don't know what to do Maddie-", I looked up at her before I continued. Her eyes had widened slightly and when she met my eyes, she gave me this look. This look that basically said 'I know, you don't have to say anything, I understand.' And that look surprised me. It stunned me into silence.

I stopped talking.

"I kind of knew how you felt Joe", she said quietly wringing her hands together awkwardly.

I gulped. "You did?" I asked slightly shocked.

"You pretended to be asleep so you didn't have to say bye to me", she spoke sounding hurt, "I knew something was up"

"I'm sorry", I said taking her hand in mine over the table, "I didn't mean to make you feel-"

She cut me off pulling her hands out of mine swiftly.

_Ouch._

"I know", she spoke gently.

I sighed loudly.

"Maddie, I'm sorry to spring all this on you, I just don't know what to do", I rambled on.

_This was a bad idea. Now she's going to feel weird around you. You are an idiot._

"Sorry", I mumbled incoherently, grabbing my bag and walking out of the cafeteria.

_Nice going Joe._

LUCAS HOUSE

AFTER SCHOOL

"Hey man, you okay?" Nick questioned taking a seat next to me in the kitchen.

I sighed.

_Should I tell him? God knows I need to talk to someone._

"No", I spoke up, ready to tell him everything.

I started with the night before Maddie left and then how amazing I felt with Stella. Then I told him how I felt when Maddie came back, our little chat, how nervous she makes me, how I hate myself, and then about my recent confession in the cafeteria.

He was shocked to say the least, in awe would be an understatement.

"Just say it. I'm a terrible person", I said slightly out of breath from all the fast-paced talking.

"No you're not Joe. But man what are you going to do?" he asked seriously.

"I don't know", I looked up at Nick, "I've tried to avoid it for weeks now, since she's been back, and it's just not going away"

He nodded silently.

"I still love Stella though, I always will", I began rambling again, "But with Madison, it's different…I've…I've never felt this way about a girl before"

He nodded once more, "Well I guess you have to break it off with Stella, to be fair"

"Yeah you're right", my voice sad from the reality.

"Look man I know that you have feelings for Maddie…", I glanced up at Nick.

"Don't worry about it Joe, if she felt that way about me she would have acted on it", he began to laugh, "I mean it is Maddie we're talking about"

I laughed as well, "You're right. She's not exactly the quiet type. She's pretty impulsive that one"

"Yeah she is", Nick spoke with a smile.

"I hope it all works out for you Joe", he spoke standing up and patting me on the back.

"Thanks for listening man", I spoke to his retreating figure.

"Anytime", I faintly heard.

_Nick was right. I had to break up with Stella._

**A/N: I know all of you Joe/Stella fans must hate me right now! But just stick with me. Leave me a review!**


	20. The Lost Conversation

**A/N: Hey readers! Thank you so much for the reviews...the last few kept me up all night writing this. Hope you enjoy! Some Joe/Maddie in this chapter :) Happy Reading! -RedRover94 **

**JOE'S POV**

LUCAS HOUSE

Lying in bed is where I do some of my best thinking…

Break up with Stella. Break up with Stella. Break up with Stella. I had to do it. I knew I had to. It wasn't fair to her, and it wouldn't be right for me. But I had to think of this situation logically: I break up with Stella, leave her heart broken, ruin one of my best friendships, and be potentially stuck with nothing. Yes, I liked Maddie. I liked her a lot. But was she just going to magically run into my arms once I was a single man? Yeah, not likely.

There was no way for me to be happy in this situation and by breaking up with Stella, I would screw up a shitload of things. Not only our friendship but even her friendship with the guys. So should I still go through with it? Who the hell knows?

It's not like all my feelings for Stell have disappeared. Of course not. That kind of thing just doesn't happen. I know I'll always love her, and I still do…just not exactly the same way?

Only one thing comes to mind: FML

The vibration of my cell on the night stand broke my reverie. Absent-mindedly I grabbed it, sliding it open.

**1 new message from: Maddie**

Should I read it? I pondered aloud. _Stop thinking so much Joe! _I mentally yelled at myself, accepting the message. It read…

"**heyyy joe…don't wry bout wht happened...I can pretend u didn't say anything"**

_What?! _Wow this girl was really starting to piss me off. "I can pretend you didn't say anything." How is she going to do that? How am I going to do that? Why does she always act like there's nothing going on between us?

_Um, maybe because there is nothing going on Joe!_

I texted back quickly…

"**hey maddie...if u can pretend that I didn't say I had feelings for you, then good for you….but unfortunately I can't do that...because I do have feelings for you…strong feelings for you…and I don't really know what the hell to do about it"**

Well, maybe that was a little harsh. But I really don't know what the hell to do about it. I awaited her reply which came rather quickly and slid the phone open once again.

This text was much shorter…

"…**call me?"**

Was I in the mood to have a heart to heart with Maddie? Hell no. But here she was willing to talk about this screwed up situation and maybe now was my chance to talk to her about everything. Nothing worse could happen anyways, right?

Before I could talk myself out of it, I hit the call button on the small device, waiting to hear her voice on the other line.

"Joe?" I heard her sweet voice ring through.

I was suddenly in the mood to talk to her…

"Hey buddy", I murmured quietly shutting off the light beside my bed and lying down, getting comfy, "Sorry for that text, I know I was being an ass"

She laughed softly on the other end, "It's okay, I know how hard this must be for you"

"Yeah, it is", I spoke honestly, "I'm going to have to break up with her"

"What?!", she screeched loudly, "Joe, you can't!"

"I have to Maddie", I justified, "It's not fair to her"

"You're going to hurt her. She loves you Joe", her sweet voice was back again.

"And I love her too. I always will. But this isn't fair to either of us", I said sadly.

"Please just think about it before you decide", she replied in a tone similar to mine.

"Maddie-", I began only to be cut off.

"Please Joe", she whispered pleadingly.

_How could I say no to her? Or argue with her?_

"Fine, I can't stop thinking about this whole situation anyways so it shouldn't be too hard", I replied turning on my side.

"Good", she spoke seemingly content.

_So, is now the time when I get her to admit that she likes me?_

"Madison, I need to ask you something", I began not too sure how to go about with this.

"Joe, please don't", she spoke clearly knowing what I was getting to.

"I need to know. You know how I feel about you", I spoke basically begging her to answer me.

"It doesn't matter how I feel Joe. It would just make things harder", she spoke, her voice dripping with sadness.

_I just wanted to give her a big hug._

"Madison, it matters to me. Please talk to me", I said in what I hoped was a soothing tone.

I just needed to hear her say it.

"You already know how I feel. Please don't make me say it. I feel horrible enough already", her voice cracking, the tears were starting. I knew it.

I shivered at her half-admitting how she felt, and the faint sniffles I heard through the phone. _Fuck, how did we let this get so screwed up?_

"Don't cry Maddie. You know I can't take your tears", I murmured to her over the phone whispering a few 'shh's' here and there.

"Sorry", she said quietly.

"It's okay hun-", she cut me off again.

"No, I'm sorry I came back. You guys were happy and me coming back ruined everything", she spat out harshly.

"Hey hey hey", I spoke in a softer tone, "You didn't ruin this. I'm the one ruining this. Don't blame yourself Maddie"

"But if I didn't come back…", she began.

"But you did come back, and we're all happy about that", I countered.

"Yeah, I guess", she spoke in a weary tone, a yawn escaping her.

"Well sleepy, I guess I should say good night. Thanks for talking to me", I spoke not wanting to keep her up.

"Wait Joe. Can't you talk for a little while longer? I mean we're probably not going to get a chance to talk about…stuff for a while. Tomorrow at school, you'll go back to Stella and I'll go back to Austin", she said.

I wasn't thinking about it like that. That sounded so god damn depressing.

"Okay", I agreed, "so then what is this? Like the lost conversation?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. One night to talk about whatever we want…and never again. We might as well make the most of it, right?" she asked in a small voice.

"Right. So we can talk about anything then?" I pondered to her.

"Yeah, what do you want to say?" she spoke in a curious tone.

"I don't want to make you feel too uncomfortable so I won't say all the things I want to…", I began.

"Thanks", she whispered back, clearly relieved.

"But I don't think this is too much", I replied in a hushed tone, "I really miss you Maddie. I miss you everyday"

I heard her let out a shaky sigh before she spoke, "I really really miss you, Joe"

I laughed slightly at the use of the extra 'really' and replied, "Well, that's nice to hear"

"Mhmm…", she sounded distant, "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course you can", I replied genuinely curious as to what she wanted to know.

"After I left…how long was it before you and Stella got together?" she asked shakily.

"It was a long time after…just about a month or so before you came back", I answered to the best of my ability.

"Oh, okay…I was just wondering", she replied, another yawn escaping her.

"Maddie are you sure you don't want to go to sleep?" I asked her not wanting to keep her up, but selfishly wanting her to stay and talk with me.

"Just a few more minutes?" she asked quietly like a little kid arguing over a bed time.

"Honey, I would stay on the phone with you all night", I spoke truthfully, "but I don't want to keep you up too late"

"You're not keeping me up, I promise", she sounded adorable.

"Okay. Is there anything else you want to talk about? Anything you want to ask me?" I asked her softly. It seemed like she needed this little talk more than I did.

"Not that I can think of. Anything you want to talk about?" she murmured.

Yes, there were tons of things I wanted to talk about with her. But I knew how guilty she would feel and how guilty I would feel too for that matter. I didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable, so I just left it at that.

"Not really. But we can still stay on the phone, can't we?" now I sounded like the little kid.

"Yeah, sure", she replied gently.

"Thanks for calling Joe", she spoke again, "I think I really needed to talk to you"

I smiled at that.

"Anytime", I murmured softly.

"I might fall asleep because I'm getting really tired…but I'm not hanging up. If I don't reply, then I fell asleep", she spoke quietly.

"Okay same goes for me, but I'm right here okay? I'm not hanging up either. If you want to talk or if you can't fall asleep, just scream really loudly", I really didn't want to leave her. I'm sure she wouldn't ask me to call her again and I was glad that we talked privately…even if it was only to say that we miss each other.

I never wanted to hang up the phone. I don't care how many minutes I was using.

I heard her giggling on the other side and I smiled in response.

"Thanks Joe"

"Of course Maddie", I whispered sleepily.

It wasn't long until I fell asleep, the phone resting on my pillow.

**A/N: So, what do you think? Did Joe betray Stella with this phone call? Reviews mean the world. :)**


	21. Falling To Pieces

**A/N: I know it's been months. Truthfully, I've lost my drive for this story. I've been working on other stories that will be coming soon. Right now, I'm focused on finishing up this story. It will only be a few more chapters. Also, on the last chapter I received no reviews :( Reviews really inspire me to keep writing and updating frequently. This story kind of drifted off my radar for a bit, so for that I apologize. Here's the next chapter. Reviews are love... -RedRover94**

**MADDIE'S POV**

I ran as fast as I could. I ran down the hall, past the rows and rows of lockers, into an open classroom and shut the door. My eyeliner was smudged, black tears rolling down my cheeks. I leaned against the door and just cried. I cried and cried until my body began wracking with sobs. The banging on the door behind, startled me. The words echoed through the door, "It's me, open up Maddie." I sighed and unlocked the door, my head hanging in embarrassment.

24 HOURS EARLIER

"Stop", I said laughingly, pushing Austin off of me. We were hanging out at his place and currently making out, but he was getting a little too hands-on, if you will. He sighed, removing his body from mine and sitting up on the couch.

"Why Madison? We've been dating for a few weeks now", he said seriously.

_A few weeks? Did he really think I was just going to jump in the sack with him after a few weeks?_

"You're serious? I'm not going to have sex with you after a few weeks probably not even after a few months. If that's what you want from me, then go find it somewhere else", I spat grabbing my bag, stomping out the door.

_What the hell is going on?_

I drove over to Stella's house to tell her what happened. I had nothing better to do on a Sunday afternoon. I quickly ran up the front steps, knocking wildly on the door. Stella opened up with a smile, "Hey Maddie"

"Hey Stell, do you have a minute?" I asked hurriedly, just wanting to tell her everything.

"Sure, but-", she answered when I cut her off walking into the house, "Great because you're never going to believe this"

"Okay what's up?" she struggled to catch up to me.

I was walking up the stairs to her bedroom so we could talk privately.

"Okay, so I was just at Austin's house and we were just kissing and then he started getting too touchy", I began while Stella's eyes widened. "I told him to stop and then he gets all pissed saying why stop and we've been dating for a few weeks now", I babbled on, while Stella replied, "Wow"

I was in front of Stella's door now and as I walked in saying, "I know, right? I mean he wanted to have sex with me", I was met with Joe's brown eyes piercing into mine, a faint blush apparent on his cheeks, and his hands awkwardly running through his hair.

"Oh sorry I didn't know you were here, I wouldn't have-", I began apologetically. He told me he had feelings for me, the last thing he needs to hear is about other guys wanting to have sex with me. Not to mention I **really** wish he didn't hear any of that.

I looked pointedly at Stella and she merely shrugged with a 'I tried to tell you.'

"Well I'm gonna go. Sorry to just barge in Stells", I stammered awkwardly walking to the door.

"No, you stay. I'll go, I was just about to leave anyways and you guys should talk about…stuff", Joe got up from the bed, giving Stella a kiss and embracing her in a hug.

I mouthed 'sorry' to him and he gave me a weak smile, walking out of the room.

_Nice going Madison._

"So, continue!" Stella urged on and I gave her more details.

NEXT MORNING

Obnoxious laughing. That's all I heard. I walked down the long, winding hall around the bend and stopped. There was Austin, my boyfr-…whatever with all his jock buddies. They were laughing and giggling and looking at Austin's phone.

"Hey man, listen to this one", Austin's arrogant voice sounded through, "Hey babe, miss you"

They were going through texts. Texts I sent.

I gulped audibly and shuddered when I heard the next guy speak, "You got that little slut wrapped around your finger, bro"

I waited for Austin's reply before I lost it, "I know, man." Then he laughed the most terrible laugh you could imagine.

I couldn't even bear to say anything. I was just shocked, in awe to say the least.

I ran as fast as I could. I ran down the hall, past the rows and rows of lockers, into an open classroom and shut the door. My eyeliner was smudged, black tears rolling down my cheeks. I leaned against the door and just cried. I cried and cried until my body began wracking with sobs. Everything was wrong. This was all wrong. I couldn't be with the boy I wanted. The boy who claims to want me too. And now that stupid, arrogant, Austin. There were a bunch of words I wanted to scream, a bunch of things I wanted to say, but instead I just sent Austin a text with many words I would rather not mention. But I was satisfied with the message. The banging on the door behind suddenly startled me. The words echoed through the door, "It's me, open up Maddie." I sighed and unlocked the door, my face stained with dried tears, my head hanging in embarrassment.

**JOE'S POV**

"Hey hey hey", I whispered soothingly, clutching Madison's waist roughly, "I saw everything. I'm so sorry buddy"

Her crying was getting louder until her whole body was wracking with sobs.

"Go away", she spat harshly trying to maneuver herself out of my grasp. I was much stronger than her and kept a firm grasp on her waist.

"I'm not leaving you", I whispered huskily against her ear. She gasped audibly forcing herself to look up into my eyes. I loosened my hold on her slightly and murmured, "He was too good for you. You deserve better. You deserve the best guy there is"

She whimpered in my arms and clutched on to my shirt roughly. "Baby", I whispered sadly, patting down her mangled locks. She in turn tucked herself even further into my shirt, her tears soaking through. I let out a shaky sigh.

_She didn't deserve this. _

_Everything was all wrong._

**A/N: Love it? Hate it? Feel indifferent? Let me know!**


	22. Sugar, We're Goin' Down

**A/N: Hey everyone. Sorry for the lack of updates but my mind has been elsewhere for the past few months as my father recently passed unexpectedly. It has been an extremely difficult time for me. Here's the next chapter. Happy Reading~! -RedRover94**

After calming down the broken girl in my arms, I murmured, "Come on. I'll take you home."

She quickly objected stating, "You have school Joe. I'll take the bus."

She had to be crazy if she thought I was going to let her take the bus. "No I'm taking you. Let's go", I pulled her along towards the door.

"You can't take me. What will Stella think?" she spat roughly and then her tone changed to a sadder, softer one, "Please stop making this harder than it already is. You think I don't want you to take me home? Of course I do Joe. But we can't do this to Stella."

This whole situation was annoying the hell out of me. I understood what she was saying, it made sense. But I had to take her home. I wouldn't just leave her hurting, I would explain that to Stella. "I know this is hard Maddie, it's hard for both of us. But I'm taking you home. You even said you wanted me to. And I want to. I'm not leaving you, not now. And we're not doing anything to Stella. We're friends, and I'm taking you home. I'll explain that to her."

I prayed that she wouldn't object again because this was a non-negotiable subject in my opinion. She didn't object, just merely nodded and murmured, "Okay."

I led her out of the classroom, through the soon to be busy hallways, and out of the school. We walked in silence to my car. The ride to Maddie's house was quiet, I would catch her wiping some stray tears ever so often, her hair splayed all over her face sticking to the wet trails her tears had left. It was heart breaking.

The wheels came to a steady stop as the car braked at Wilshire Court. Madison led the way to the front door, swiftly turning the key in the lock and swinging open the front door. My shoulders shrunk as I followed behind, suddenly feeling guilty for being here. Maddie sat on the brown leather couch, the couch that was the setting for many of my dreams recently, and the couch that started it all. I gulped noticeably and was pulling out of my daydream when Maddie called out, "Joe", in a questioning tone.

"Yeah", I quickly replied.

"You can go now", she murmured, a fake smile plastered across her face.

"You're not getting rid of me that easily, beautiful", I replied nonchalantly and when the words I said finally registered with me and when I looked into Maddie's widening eyes, I baffled, "Sorry I didn't mean to, it just came out."

"What are we going to do Joe? I hate this", her voice quivered slightly.

"Well technically we haven't really betrayed her. I mean the most we've done is told each other, 'I miss you.'"

I moved to sit on the couch next to her.

"It feels like we've done more than that. Trust me I've betrayed her just with my thoughts about you", Maddie replied, a faint blush creeping up on her cheeks.

_I've never seen her blush before. I wonder what exactly she was thinking…_

I smirked, "Well I definitely have too then. But don't you think we could explain the situation to her. I mean that night that we were together, I wasn't with Stella. I wasn't with anyone and neither were you. So we didn't do anything wrong that night. It's only natural that when you came back, some of those feelings would return."

"I guess so. But how would we say that? How could we say that?" she looked right at me, her teeth tugging at her bottom lip, "Maybe it would be better if we just stopped this."

I grabbed her hand swiftly in mine, and this time she didn't pull away.

"Maddie, if you can honestly look at me and tell me that you want that and that you want to stop whatever we're doing, then I'll respect that."

She didn't answer me. She was just staring at our intertwined hands, rubbing her thumb against my hand.

"But if you don't want that", I continued slowly, lifting her chin with my free hand so she was looking right at me, "then I will explain it to her and tell her that I need some time to think about things."

Madison nodded her head as I dropped my hand.

"Whatever you want to do, that's fine with me", I spoke urging her to tell me what she was thinking.

"I don't think I'll be able to pretend like nothing happened. But maybe I should be the one to tell her. I mean she is my best friend", she replied slowly.

"Okay, but I can tell her. You decide and let me know", I answered just glad we were making some progress. This was eating me up inside.

"Okay. Thanks for bringing me home Joe. You should probably get back to school", she spoke standing up and pulling me up with her by our intertwined hands.

I sighed and gave her a smile, "Or we could both go back to school."

She bit her lip adorably, "I don't know if I'm up for it."

"Okay, well I can come pick you up at lunch if you want", I replied in a hopeful tone.

_I really didn't want her to stay here alone feeling sorry for herself._

She shook her head 'no' and I gave her a small smile.

"I could stay here and hang out if you want", I murmured quietly taking her other hand in mine.

"That's tempting, but I can't let you do that. You go back to school and you can tell Stella, Nick, and Kev what happened. They're gonna find out eventually", she replied set in her decision.

She walked me over to the door and turned to me saying, "Thanks Joe, for everything."

I let go of her hands and wrapped my arms tight around her frame. I heard her sigh in contentment as she embraced me back. I placed a single kiss atop her head and left the house before I really wouldn't be able to leave.

As I was walking down the driveway, I heard a small voice whisper, "Joe, what are you doing here?"

My eyes widened as I turned and faced the person.

_Just great._

**A/N: Reviews mean the world!**


	23. Where We Gonna Go From Here?

**A/N: I know this is VERY long overdue. But I simply have lost all drive for this story. I am trying to finish it off because I don't want to leave it unfinished. Here it is! Leave a review if you have any comments/feedback! -RedRover94**

"Joe", she walked closer to me, "why are you here?"

_Uh oh. This wasn't supposed to happen like this._

"Hey Stell. Well actually there was this situation at school. See, Maddie kind of saw Austin jerking around with his buddies about text messages she sent. They weren't exactly saying the nicest things", I rambled on, "Anyways I happened to see the whole thing. It was during spare. Maddie just wanted to go home so I offered to take her and I was just leaving."

I looked on nervously.

"Oh, I'm glad you took her home. I actually just heard some of the guys talking and she wasn't in class, so I came to look for her", Stella replied.

"Yeah, so I'll just be getting back. You should go on in and check on her", I was probably sweating profusely by now.

As I was walking back to my car, I heard her voice sound through, "Joe, is everything okay? You seem nervous and…you've been kind of distant lately."

I gulped inwardly. She's noticed that I haven't been as attentive. _Hurry Joe, say something before she really thinks something's wrong._

I faked a smile as I spoke, "Yeah, I'm fine Stell…and sorry I've been distant, just a lot of stuff going on right now with school and all the band stuff."

_Please don't ask me anything else. Please. Please. Please._

She didn't say anything for a moment, and I hoped I wasn't sweating noticeably again. She finally replied, "Yeah, I understand."

I gave her another smile and then motioned back to the house, "You should probably go in."

She nodded her head, "Yeah. Maybe you can come over later, we can talk?"

"Definitely", I replied as I walked over and gave her a quick kiss.

As I got in my car to leave, I could see the brunette gazing through the window, and I sighed internally. This was a terrible mess.

_I am such a major jerk. An unbelievable jerk._

I had to pick one and I had until tonight's talk with Stella to decide. As much as I loved Stella…something just hadn't been right since Maddie came back. Every night, the wrong girl was on my mind. The wrong girl invaded my dreams. I was crazy about Maddie. So I guess I have to break things off with Stella? Or just tell her the truth? Or do I forget about Maddie? That would be the best thing. But I can't seem to be able to do that. These feelings just won't go away.

When I returned to school, I told Nick and Kevin what happened, and I also told Nick _everything _that happened. He agreed that I had to talk to Stella tonight, this had dragged on for way too long.

I sent Madison a text message when I got home that night: _I'm telling her tonight. I'm going over to her house._

My phone buzzed almost instantly after I sent the message: _What exactly are you going to tell her?_

_That was a good question…_

I replied, telling her the truth: _I honestly don't know right now. I'm going to tell her about what happened between us two years ago. And how I've been feeling about the whole situation. That I've tried to ignore these feelings, but I can't. I won't bring you up though. I'll just tell her how I've been feeling._

She didn't reply for a few minutes this time: _Tell me how it goes. _

I responded with a simple: _Will do._

Then, I hopped in the shower, attempting to wash away these feelings one last time so I could avoid this confrontation with Stella.

It didn't work.

And in no time, I was driving to the Malone residence and knocking on the big wooden door. I was met with a bubbly blonde looking gorgeous as always smiling back at me.

_How the hell was I going to do this?_

I gulped inwardly and forced a smile back at her. She stepped aside and welcomed me into her house.

We sat down at her kitchen table. Her parents were no where to be seen so I assumed they went out for the night. I was sitting directly across from Stella, my hands clasped together nervously.

"Stell I have been distant lately…", I began, glancing up at her face.

"I know that", she spoke quietly.

"But it's not because of school or the band", I looked down feeling like the most horrible boyfriend in the world.

She looked at me slightly confused but urged me on none the less.

"I have to tell you something."

**A/N: I know it was short, but hopefully the next chapter will be up soon! Review please!**


	24. These Feelings Won't Go Away

**A/N: Hey guys! Here's the next chapter! Hope you enjoy, please leave a review with your thoughts! :)**

**My inspiration for this chapter was the song Sideways by Citizen Cope. The lyrics from the song will look like *-this-* in the chapter. It's an awesome song! If you haven't heard it, you should go check it out! **

**Happy Reading~! -RedRover94**

"_I have to tell you something."_

"What is it?", Stella spoke, her voice slightly anxious.

My heart broke at the sight and I took in this last moment. The last time I would see her before things changed, before everything was different, before she hated me.

***-You know it ain't easy  
For these thoughts here to leave me  
There's no words to describe it  
In French or in English-***

"It's really hard for me to say Stell, I don't even know how to begin", I began pained at the words that were about to come out of my mouth.

"What's hard for you to say, Joe?" she questioned clearly puzzled.

***-Cuz' diamonds they fade  
And flowers they bloom  
And I'm telling you-***

Stella waited patiently for my next words.

"It's about Maddie. And something that happened two years ago", I spoke quietly.

"Okay, what is it?" Stella just wanted to know. Why was he dragging this out so much?

"The night before she left. You were out and Nick and Kevin were out, so I called her. She was bored and I was bored, so I went over there to hang out", I was finally saying something.

Stella nodded in understanding, waiting for me to speak some more.

"Well, we started talking…and one thing led to another. We kind of…we made out and fell asleep in each other's arms", I was scared to even look up at her.

Stella was shocked, she didn't even say anything. _Say something, say anything. _I waited for about a minute but still no words left her.

"Look, we weren't together then. And it was her last night, I didn't go over there with that intention", I was rambling now.

She was silent for a few more minutes and then thankfully she said something, "You're right, we weren't together then. It's okay."

I sighed in relief. She wasn't mad, thank goodness.

"But why are you telling me now? And why didn't you tell me before? Why wouldn't Maddie tell me?" she asked him bewildered.

"Because…"

***-These feelings won't go away  
They've been knockin' me sideways  
They've been knockin' me out lately  
Whenever you come around me-***

"I never really saw the point in telling you because nothing came of it, it was just one night. And I'm not sure why Maddie didn't tell you. But lately…well ever since she came back I guess…I've been thinking about that night a lot.", I couldn't bear to look at her, "And that night I really believed that I liked her…a lot. When she came back, those feelings…they returned", I was so ashamed at my words.

"Joe-", she tried to speak, but I wasn't finished.

***-These feelings won't go away  
They've been knockin' me sideways  
I keep thinking in a moment that  
Time will take them away****  
But these feelings won't go away-***

"I've tried Stella, I _really_ have. I thought that in time those feelings would disappear. Because I love you, I really do love you. But they're not going away, and I can't seem to fight the way I feel anymore", I was done. _That was all I wanted to say, right?_

"What about her? Does she feel the same way about you?" Stella spoke, tears springing up in her eyes.

"I…I don't know", I spoke looking down. I promised not to get Maddie involved in this.

"Don't lie to me", she could tell I wasn't being honest.

"Yeah, she does. But she was never going to act on it. She would never hurt you", Joe murmured to her gently, "I never wanted to hurt you either."

Stella laughed bitterly, "So…"

"I just need to be on my own right now, figure things out", I spoke truthfully.

"You mean you want to be on your own so you can get with Maddie", she spoke bitterly, but it was clear how much she was hurting.

"Stella, I never-", I really tried to say something.

"Get out of my house now", she spoke in a demanding manner, tears still falling from her soft brown eyes.

I nodded, grabbed my jacket, and walked out of the Malone residence. Probably for good. I walked down the stone path that led to my car, and when I reached it, I was overcome with emotion. A few tears fell from my eyes, but I quickly wiped them away, climbing into my car and driving away. I drove and drove until I found myself at the Wilson's place.

I rubbed at my eyes, making sure it didn't look as though I had been crying, and walked to the Wilson's front door. I rang the doorbell, patiently waiting for someone to answer, and daydreaming all the while. Maddie opened the door, jolting me from my thoughts.

I glanced at her and said, "I told her."

She nodded and stepped aside, gesturing for me to come inside, which I willingly did. The front door shut loudly.

***-These feelings won't go away-***

**A/N: Comments? Leave a review!**


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